Breaking the Hold
by LadyLionheart73
Summary: An alternate timeline starting from ep.6. The Lord Commander is done having the Gary foil his plans; but luckily for his captive, he has many uses for the human, whether Gary wants to or not. Will the Galaxy One crew be able to save Gary before he's too far gone
1. Chapter 1

**Note: This au takes place immediately after chapter 6, but diverges from the timeline where the Galaxy One saves Gary at the exact right time. Unfortunately for the crew, the Lord Commander has many uses for the Gary.**

* * *

Before Gary even opened his eyes, he could tell he wasn't back on the Galaxy One. HUE hadn't slammed him out of his bed and into his wall, he couldn't smell the coffee Quinn downed religiously every morning, and no sounds of KVN flying around like the annoying sack of turds he was.

On second thought, he was relieved he didn't have to hear INC. However, it begged the question of where Gary was now.

It was when Gary's eyes fluttered open that he realized the amount of trouble he was. It was definitely a torture room, no doubt. No Windows? Check. Concrete walls and floor? Check. Instruments of torture lining the wall? Freaking check.

Gary felt panic bubble up his throat, his eyes snapping open. Trying to pull himself up from his sitting position, he quickly found he was bound to a bed (a bed? Gary would have gone with the old fashioned chains from the ceiling, but whatever) by energy cuffs. The prisoner felt his heart pound, his breathing ragged and short from fear. _'Calm down, brain. Now is not the time to go AWOL' _The blonde thought to himself, remembering the advice Avocato told him if he was in this situation.

Gary took a couple of deep, long breaths, not stopping until he his lungs were full, and then breathing back out slowly. After a few minutes, Gary finally stopped hearing his heartbeat in his ears, and could focus. He carefully tested the cuffs while racking his brain for what had happened last night. Avocado and Quinn would not have allowed Gary to leave the ship unaccompanied, and Mooncake would have undoubtedly protected his best friend from any intruders.

_'Quinn...The Lord Commander's prison...Avocato!' _All at once it came back to Gary. Avocato had received an SOS from his lost son, and wanted to go immediately. Gary remembered the two sharing a bro hug, jumping onto the wrong planet, entering the empty prison, and walking into the Lord Commander's (completely obvious) trap. Then, after that...

As if on cue, the door to the torture room slid open, and out stepped the very person Gary dreaded to see.

"Lord Commander." Gary stated, still in shock over his present surroundings.

"Ahh, you're awake, the Gary. Hope you're enjoying the accomodations."

The titular man said nothing, even when the alien called him 'the Gary' instead of just Gary. Instead, he only stared at the small tyrant; the Lord Commander looked worse for wear, but much better than he had previously. From the lighter shade of the skin on his head, it looked like he got some sort of skin graft, finally covering up that bit of visible grey matter.

Realizing that the Lord Commander was staring at him as well, waiting for a response, Gary only stated bluntly, "Let. Me. The hell. Go. You sad, eggheaded man." LC only chuckled, hands behind his back as he walked towards Gary.

"Oh, the Gary. You've been a pain in my backside for far too long." The older man ran his hand against the human's pantsed leg, making Gary freeze in place. The human struggled not to respond to this...whatever it was, his hands becoming fists. "You turned Avocato against me, took E351, and destroyed my Infinity Guard."

The Lord Commander ran his hand against the younger man's chest, then caressed Gary's face in a way that elicited nothing but pure disgust.

"Anyone else would be dead long ago. But, you're not like everyone else, are you Gary? You're stubborn, impulsive, and much too emotional. You remind of your father; except for your face, it's too much of your mother's genes.

_'Wait, what the crap?'_

"What the hell do you know about my father?!" Gary nearly shrieked, pulling against his restraints. How dare this a-hole talk about his father?!

"Simple. I was his co-pilot in the Infinity Guard." LC stated matter-a-factly, stopping Gary's futile attempt to lunge at the Lord Commander in its tracks.

'_What the double crap?'_

Once again, the Lord Commander chuckled. "I can tell by your dumb face that this is the first time you heard of this. Not surprising; John hated mixing work and family.

So let me enlighten you, the Gary."

Gary knew it was coming when the Lord Commander's eyes lit up with a white light, but could do nothing to stop it as he felt the Lord Commander enter his mind. It felt just as wrong as before, the alien worming his way through his memories, his emotions, his personality. But this time, Gary could see something. The Lord Commander's-memories.

"I was born on Tera Con Prime, before it became a trade outpost. At that time, I lived as Jaxxtrixxriiandraneek, or Jack for short. My family was the typical Earth nuclear family, though we lived "from paycheck to paycheck" as you Earthlings would describe it."

Gary could see this, and feel this as if it was his memories. Playing with his brother and sister after school to keep them busy, watching his parents work multiple jobs just to make ends meet and pay for their small two bedroom house, having to wear the same clothes even as they stretched and crushed him and the others kids made fun of him

"Despite all this, I always dreamt of becoming an Infinity Guard. To me, they were the bastion of hope and justice in the universe. So I studied, spending every waking moment training to become a member And when I was 16, I was finally able to sign up for the Infinity Guard Academy on Earth. That's where I met your father, John.

John was...he was everything I wasn't. He was strong, charismatic, handsome, and brave. Despite all this, he became my first friend on Earth, and we were inseparable."

Gary remembered this too. He remembered going to Earth for the first time, amazed at the blue of the sky and abundance of life. He remembered his first day at the Academy, being in awe of a younger, less grey haired John, learning from John how how to shoot and how to talk to girls...and the tender nights Jack and John spent together, when no one was looking.

"When we graduated, we became co-pilots and spent more time together than ever before. Our days were spent jumping from planet to planet in the battlefield, fighting to uphold peace and justice, saving each other's lives more times than I can count. It was like that for nearly twenty years, the one time I was ever truly happy. Needless to say, things would've been much different today If it wasn't for...The Sheryl."

Gary could sense the anger and hatred the Lord Commander felt for Sheryl, Gary's mother, just from his voice.

"He met her on one of our pit stops back on Earth, in some upscale bar. John could have had any women he wanted, but he fell for one of the crudest, most selfish women I've seen. He was far too good for her, and I think the Sheryl knew that. John found out you were on your way just six months after their 'courtship.' "

The human was surprised by this new information; however, he wasn't shocked. Knowing what he knew now about his mother's criminal past, and remembering how she abandoned him so coldly and so quickly after his dad died, he felt he could agree with and believe the Lord Commander-no, Jack, on this topic.

"All of the sudden, things changed. We went on safer, more boring assignments, John spent more and more of his free time with you and Sheryl. It was always "Sheryl this" and "Gary that." But even then, he felt bad for me, trying to make it up to me on our missions by taking the more difficult parts of running the ship on. It was just like him, to care about others before himself."

This time, Gary could sense a touch of sentimentality in Jack, watching the memories of how John, his father, was so excited to be a father and decorating a nursery and 'do you think the baby would like Infinity Guard blue or green Jack?' It made Gary smile, seeing how his dad truly loved him, even if it was by the Lord Commander basically mind f-ing him.

"Despite this, I bit my tongue, not wanting to ruin what I had with my John. And that's when it happened. The day your father died."

_This memory felt different than the others. It was more vivid, more realistic. He could see clearly the inside of the Jack and John had piloted for the last 29 years. Jack, a younger, more innocent looking Jack with a fair green complexion was at the console, with John leaning beside him._

_'Central command, we're nearing the breach, please respond, over.' Jack reportedly dutifully, even as he could feel the warmth of John's heavy body against him. He admonished himself for blushing, and kept his eyes on the console._

_'Central command here, we-you need-" The com's cut out, and Jack winced as the ear piece in his ear let out a high pitched noise rang through it. Then, just like that, the console went out, displaying the red error screen._

_'Must be interference from Final Space. God knows what's in there.' John stated, as if they didn't just lose control of their entire ship._

_'What do we do, John?! How do we deliver the anti matter bomb?!'_

_'Calm down, Jack. The delivery system for the bomb should still be functional, even if the ship's controls are down.' John stepped away heading towards the controls for the bomb. He slide in the place of a SAME, who moved away mindlessly to another station. ' Now, if I just-'_

_Suddenly, John was knocked off his feet, slamming onto the ground. There was blue, pink, and white lights. Jack's head was shoved against the console at full force, and the alien swore in Greytrexian at the large bruise he was bound to get later. _

_The alarms of the ship blared, and the SAMES were panicking, rapidly darting across the ship's controls as the two non robotic passengers were stunned._

_'H.U.E, what the hell just happened?!' John yelled, pulling himself up. Thoughtfully, John pat Jack's back, making sure the smaller being was alright before standing up fully._

_'Captain, we were just hit by an energy wave from the breach. It has knocked out the remaining controls in the ship, and according to my calculations, another energy wave will destroy our ship and kill us all in approximately ten minutes.'_

_'What are our options?' John asked, eyes narrowing in focus as Jack felt himself panic. They were going to die, they were going to die, they were going to-_

_John laid a reassuring hand on Jack's shoulder, sending the smaller alien's stress and giving him a small smile. Almost Instantly, Jack felt better._

_'Captain, the only option, besides death, is for one of you to activate the anti-matter bomb manually at the breach, saving the ship and the Earth. However, this means one of you will be obliterated by the blast.'_

_'What?! That-that can't be the only option! What about the escape pods? Can't one of the SAMES do it?!' Jack shrieked, not bearing the thought of losing his best friend or dying himself._

_'Didn't you hear H.U.E. Jack? If we do nothing, this thing will destroy Earth. There's no room for error.' Already, John had retrieved the anti-matter bomb from the console and was grabbing his helmet. Oh God, John was going to get himself killed._

_'What, John? What are you doing? John, no! Stop! Think about what you're doing!' Jack yelled, sprinting to stop his co-pilot from leaving the ship. Jack couldn't lose the man he loved, not now._

_'I have thought about it, Jack, for nine years, and I already made the decision to protect my family at all cost, even if it means my life.' Putting his helmet on, John proceeded towards the door._

_'No, don't John! Please, taking this mission was my idea, I won't let you sacrifice yourself, let me do it.' John paused at this statement, watching the smaller man desperately cling to his leg. _

_'Jack, I need you to promise me one thing. If you make it back to Earth, find Gary, tell him...tell him I'm sorry I wasn't able to see the man he would grow up to be.' _

_'John...' Jack whispered, hearing his friend choke back his own tears. The John, who Jack had looked up to as a beacon of positivity, was just as terrified as the Greytrexian was._

_'Jack, I need you to promise me this.' _

_'...Okay, I promise John. I promise.' Jack swore, feeling tears roll down his face. _

_'Thanks, buddy. For everything. See you later.' And just like that, John was gone, leaving Jack all alone, crying in the empty ship._

"I never made it back to Earth." The Lord Commander said, his voice barely above a whisper as he finally left Gary's mind. Gary's vision cleared, seeing the small alien sit beside him in the bed. He could see a tear escape the tyrant's eye, still remembering his partner's loss as if it happened yesterday. "I was left stranded for days in a broken ship, while John was raised up a martyr back on Earth. No one came for me, no one even tried to search for me. To the Infinity Guard, I was expendable, something I learned far too late. It was shortly after that that I discovered my powers."

At this lull in the conversations, Gary finally found the courage to speak. "I get it, your life is one big dump by the universe, I really get it. But you don't see anyone else go power hungry, arm ripping off tyrant mode."

"I know you understand me, the Gary. I've been in your mind, remember?" The LC smiled knowingly. "Your mother, John, and Mooncake, Anyone you've ever loved has abandoned you or died, and you yearn for any sign of affection. I can give you all that and more." At this, the Greytrexian placed his hand on the human's stomach, looking at Gary intently.

"Yeah, no offense or nothing, but I'm getting some really creepy vibes from you and plus I'm kind of nearly already dating a girl, so no thanks." Gary looked both embarrassed and incredulous, not believing what he just heard.

The Lord Commander just scowled. "You still care for those imbeciles?! They abandoned you, after all you did for them. Even Avocato, whose son you risked your life to save, has left you behind."

Gary's eyes widened as the Lord Commander spoke, remembering how Quinn looked at him with betrayal, how Mooncake flew away, how Gary never saw Avocato once Little Cato pushed him through that wall. "You're wrong, you douche canoe! They care about me, they-"

"Aren't coming." The Lord Commander interrupted, grasping Gary's head with both his hands. "Think about it. If they really cared, wouldn't they have found you by now? You've been gone an entire day, and its not like I'm very inconspicuous."

The Lord Commander...was right. They had no reason to come for him. Avocato finally got his son, Quinn only cared about closing the breach and saving the Earth, and Mooncake-well, Mooncake would be too scared of the Lord Commander to do anything.

Gary looked away, his face downcast.

Sensing Gary's doubts, the Lord Commander unlocked the human's energy cuffs with his powers. Sitting up, Gary rubbed his raw wrists as the Lord Commander spoke.

"Now you understand; not one of them care about you, because you served their purpose. But, if you join my command, if you are obedient and loyal, I will not only give you a purpose, but I'll give you the love and appreciation you deserve."

Gary was silent for a few moments, then looked up. "If I help you, will you promise to not hurt Moocake?"

"You mean E351? If that is what you desire, I swear on your father's grave that I won't."

The blonde was once again silent, looking away thoughtfully, before looking into the Lord Commander's eyes determinedly. "...Okay. I accept your offer." Gary held out his hand, and the Lord Commander smirking, gave Gary his.

Not one second later, Gary had grasped the Lord Commander's arm with both hands, and slammed the Greytrexian into the closest way. Laughing triumphantly, Gary bolted up and ran towards the door, not even taking a second to glance back at the older alien.

The halls were surprisingly empty, something Gary could count as one of his blessings. Bathed in a red light, Gary ran for his life towards the double doors in front of him. He slammed his body against it, fell butt first onto the ground, and stood up once again to _pull_ them open before running through.

Gary gasped as he nearly fell over the edge, the double doors not leading to freedom like he thought, but a crater of utter blackness. A trap by the Lord Commander.

" **HOW DARE YOU?!" **He heard the Lord Commander shriek, and Gary barely had enough time to turn around before he felt himself being crushed, lifted into the air by the Greytrexian's telekinesis. **"I REVEALED TO YOU SECRETS NO ONE ELSE HEARD, I OFFERED YOU A PLACE BY MY SIDE, AND YOU REFUSE?!" **

"Of course, Lord Buttwad!" Gary gasped, glaring at the smaller man. "Even if no one's on my side, I'm not going to help you destroy the freaking universe just to make myself feel better!"

For a few tense seconds, Gary was sure the Lord Commander was going to snap his neck and be done with it, and Gary was fine with that. At least then he couldn't hurt anyone else.

But then the anger faded from the Lord Commander's face, replaced by a serene, creepy smile.

"Oh Gary, Gary, Gary...you really are like your father. Willing to sacrifice everything you have for others. I'll make sure to keep that quality after I make a few...adjustments."

Before Gary could question it, the Lord Commander slammed the human against the ground, and all went black once again.

* * *

**And that is the end of the first chapter of Breaking the Hold! I hope you guys enjoyed it, and if there were anything you found interesting or out of place, make sure to put it in the comments.**  
**Thank you for reading, and have a fantastic day!**


	2. Regrets and Ruinations

**Note: In this chapter, we start to see how Gary got captured in the first place.**

* * *

The Lord Commander navigated through the Human known as the Gary's mind carefully and meticulously, in search of anything that would tell him where E351 was. The human's protests continued in the background, though the Lord Commander paid little heed to them.

"Where are you, E351?" The tyrant thought to himself, until he finally felt a memory that seemed promising. The emotional bond Gary had to it felt abnormally powerful, even though the memory was old. And that name, "Mooncake," radiated from the memory. The name the Gary chose for E351.

The Lord Commander entered the memory, curious as to what he might find. Looking around, he saw The Gary, but much tinier than he was in the present. If his knowledge of human biology was correct, he'd guess the human was somewhere between 8 to 10 here. The Gary held a jar, which upon closer inspection, contained a green, larva like creature with the name 'Mooncake' taped across.

The Greytrexian was about to exit the memory when he saw him.

"John...?" There was John, standing in front of Gary dressed in his Infinity Guard uniform. John looked upon the boy lovingly, while the younger human looked upon him in awe.

Memories immediately flooded back to the Lord Commander, memories he had never wanted to think about again. Memories that, despite being mostly pleasant, were laced with a sense of poisonous regret.

The Lord Commander recalled how John had a son about this age before he...departed. Could Gary actually be John's son?

Determined, he dug deeper, finding more evidence to back this theory. Gary on John's shoulders, as they looked up as the spaceships, Gary and John in the boy's tree house, John giving Gary Mooncake the catepillar to keep him company while he was gone.

Well, this was interesting. Maybe he didn't have to kill the human after all...

* * *

Avocato sighed in relief, his son having finally broken free of the Lord Commander's control. As his son helped him up, he was surprised for yet another time that day when he saw the Galaxy One fly overhead.

"Son of a bitch..." Avocato muttered, his smile widening.

"Uh oh, the Lord Commander's forces!" Little Cato yelled, thinking it was an Infinity Guard ship.

"Don't worry, son, they're with us." Avocato assured his son as the ship flew and landed slowly alongside the two Ventrexians. Floating above the gaping abyss, the loading deck opened up to reveal Quinn, INC and Mooncake.

"Thank God you guys are still alive!" Quinn smiled, then knelt down to the Orange furred boy. "Hey there, you must Little Cato. Nice to meet you, I'm Quinn."

"Oh, okay." Little Cato responded, not sure what else to say.

"Hey, Avocato...sorry, about... you know." Quinn said, looking...guilty?

"Eh, I tied you up at gunpoint, so let's just call it even." Quinn and Avocato shared a nod, then Quinn cocked her gun.

"Okay, now let's get Gary and get out."

"Chookity!" Mooncake added.

"Yeah Mooncake, let's cover the Lord Commander in butt holes!" KVN exclaimed, pointing his guns into the air.

* * *

The Lord Commander lowered Gary and himself to the ground, with the Greytrexian cradling the human's head and upper body. Gary's eyes glowed with a white light, signifying he was still in a trance. The Lord Commander couldn't have the self proclaimed captain spoiling his plans.

"Bhero, I'm ready, beam me up. Oh, and I'll be bringing a guest, so let's prepare a room for him." "Right away sir." The comm went silent; it wouldn't take more than a minute for his ship to lightfold to his location.

"GARY!" This high pitched shriek alerted the Lord Commander who found himself faced with the crew of the Galaxy One. The source of the shriek, a female Infinity Guard, pointed her weapon at the Lord Commander's head. "LET HIM GO YOU DOUCHE CANOE!"

With a wave of his hand and a scoff, the Lord Commander deactivated the group's weapons, which cracked, popped, and fizzled to the ground.

"Did you really think that was going to work, or did you just say it to scare me?"

The floating yellow robot exclaimed, "Mooncake, get him!"

"Chookity pok!" E351 cried out, floating up angrily with his eyes glowing.

"Ah, now, wouldn't want to hit your little buddy, would you?" The Lord Commander interjected, lifting up Gary's head to remind the crew.

E351 let out a small gasp, the light in his eyes instantly going out. "Mmm…"

"Yes, that's what I thought." The Lord Commander gloated, as his eyes found his former prisoner Little Cato. "Ah, Little Cato, I see you survived your fight."

"If I ever get my hands on you, you're going to wish my father killed you three years ago."

"Aww, were you disturbed?" The Lord Commander asked in a mocking tone. "Don't worry, you little moggie, I found a new puppet to play with. Now, tah-tah."

And with that, the Lord Commander's ship beamed them up.

* * *

"Gary,no!" Avocato cried out, snapping out of his shocked state. As he said this, Quinn snatched up one of the laser pistols and began shooting upwards, trying to bringing the Lord Commander down. However, the Lord Commander's meddling meant the lasers shot out wildly and without focus.

The ship flew off as quickly as it arrived, leaving the Galaxy One crew alone.

"Shit…SHIT!" Quinn cried out, clutching the pistol in her hand and battling the urge to throw it across the room. She stormed towards the Galaxy One, fuming at her failure.

"Gary…" Avocato whispered, his hands turning into fists.

* * *

_3 days later…_

"H.U.E., give me a status update on the breach." Quinn requested, hands in a prayer position over her mouth as she analyzed the data flooding her eyes. Avocado was by her side, the two sitting alone in the control room.

"GOOD NEWS, QUINN. IT SEEMS THAT THE BREACH TO FINAL SPACE HAS TEMPORARILY STABILIZED, WITH INCOMING DATA SUGGESTING NEGLIGIBLE GROWTH. HOWEVER, I AM NOT CERTAIN HOW LONG IT WILL STAY IN THIS STATE." H.U.E. replied, displaying a picture of the rift in question.

"Finally, some good news around here." Avocato sighed, rubbing his temples with his middle finger and thumb.

"Any updates about Gary?"

"UNFORTUNATELY, NO NEW RELEVANT INFORMATION HAS BEEN UNCOVERED IN THE COMMUNICATION CHANNELS I HAVE AVAILABLE TO ME."

"Thanks H.U.E. Keep us posted." Quinn stated formally. Avocato stood up, cracking his back as he did.

I'm going to take a small break. Want to come with." "Can't, still trying to crack the Tera Con Prime security cameras. But if you can, a coffee would be great."

Avocato sighed, "Yeah, okay. I'll be back in ten."

Quinn only gave a curt nod, not looking away from her work as Avocato exited the room.

* * *

Things were certainly different without Gary here. Mooncake spent most of his time either sobbing or hiding in Gary's room. Quinn spent most of her time working on either finding a solution to the breach and finding Gary. Quinn and Avocato's relationship had become strained at best, butting heads constantly without Gary as a mediator. H.U.E. and the SAMES were of little help, and KVN's antics were nearly driving Avocato over the edge. Not three hours ago, Avocato almost ripped the robot's arms off after he sealed the bathroom door shut.

The only bright spot was that Little Cato was finally back with Avocato after three long years of separation. The prepubescent was playful, curious, and bursting with energy, reminding Avocato of Gary.

Speaking of Little Cato…

The adult Ventrexian entered his son's room with a knock, finding the boy laying on his bed. Surprisingly, he also saw Mooncake sitting besides Little Cato's stomach, curled up like a cat and eyes close.

"Hey, bud. Settling in okay?"

"Oh, dad!" Little Cato sat up and hung his legs over the mattress, not waking Mooncake. "Actually, I was wondering if you could help me fix this old machine thing I found in one of the drawers."

"Course, Little Cato. Let's see what we're working with." Giving a wide smile, Little Cato stood up and moved over to the desk, where there stood a dusty, old typewriter machine.

"I recognized it from school. We used it to learn how to type on the computer. There would be this face that would talk to us and repeat the words back." Little Cato explained. "But with the right tampering-"

"We could use it to imitate someone's voice for a voice key. Good thinking, son." Avocato ruffled the child's hair, then turned the typewriter around to see the back. "Seems in okay condition, but definitely needs some cleaning. I should have something for that in my room."

"Cool! I'll go grab it for you!"

* * *

Quinn sat in the control room, quietly typing as she tried to hack into the Tera Con Prime camera system. It would help immensely to see the Lord Commander's comings and goings. But above that, she needed to find Gary Goodspeed. It was a duty, as a (former) Infinity Guard member to protect all life, no matter who it was.

"Ugh, where's Avocato? Can one of you SAMES get me a coffee?" Quinn asked, looking up to see one of the SAMES had already gotten her a cup. "Oh, uh, thanks."

She looked up, seeing the SAMES' head imprinted with the name Carl, clearly Gary's handy work. Furrowing her brows, Quinn took the coffee and went back to typing.

Suddenly, she found herself pausing, glancing at the picture she had set up in the corner of the screen. It was a picture the three of them-Gary, Avocato, Quinn- had took after they destroyed the Infinity Guard's laser. Gary was front and center, with a huge, dorky grin on his face, with Avocao giving a sly grin in the corner and Quinn rolling her eyes in amusement in the photo.

_'What would Gary-no, Quinn, focus.' _

Typing again with a ferver, the former Infinity Guard tried to focus on the lines of code ahead of her, only to find herself once again staring at the photo.

Sighing, she tilted her head back and rubbed her temples. Quinn missed Gary; that was what she had come to realize in the last three days. She kept replaying their last encounter in her head, trying to see if it could have ended differently.

She was in the right, of course. Gary had been nothing but obnoxious the entire time she knew him, always flirting with her even after Quinn made clear (multiple times, she might add!) she was not interested. She should feel disgusted, the fact that this prisoner obsessed over her (not her, the idea of a friend; he had no one back on Earth).

Plus, the entire galaxy had to take precedence over a single child, no matter if that child was a stranger or their teammate's son. And Gary had betrayed her, wasting precious time to help Avocato on this suicide mission ('Gary always puts others' needs before his own,' HUE had once told her).

Quinn hated this-feeling helpless-it was why she joined the Infinity Guard. She and her sister had never knew their parents, and had been bounced from foster to foster until her sister finally turned eighteen. Quinn had hoped by joining the organization, she could finally control her fate; but now, everything was spiraling out of control.

"QUINN, IS SOMETHING WRONG? YOU HAVE NOT MOVED OR SPOKE IN SOME TIME." H.U.E. asked, worry evident in his tone.

"I'll-I need to find Avocato. Be right back."

* * *

Quinn found Avocato in his son's new room. The two were hunched over some device, which was not too surprising. She said nothing at first, even though she was curious of what they were doing. (After all, she was the one ready to leave the child to _die)._

Little Cato was the one to notice her out of the corner of his eye. "Oh, hi Quinn! Dad is just helping me fix something I found around the ship."

"Oh, sounds fun." Quinn said hesitantly, trying to be nice to the boy.

"Nah, mostly just cleaning it. Been tucked away for years!" Avocato stated plainly, keeping his hand steady so as not to damage the fragile machinery. "One of the prisoners before Gary must of left it behind."

Quinn saw Mooncake, who was laying on Little Cato's bed, and how his attenas perked up and his nonexistent eyebrows furrow as he heard the human's name. However, he did not move.

"Yeah, that's pretty likely." Quinn agreed, sitting down on Little Cato's bed. "So. Little Cato, how are you doing?"

At her prompting, Little Cato just shrugged. "Pretty good. It's nice to sleep on an actual bed with sheets for once."

Avocato visibly tensed at that, but continued working after a small pause.

"Well, if you need anything-"

"Actually, now that I have you both here, what do you guys think of Gary?"

Quinn did NOT expect that question. Avocato put his tools down and looked up at his son, also surprised.

"Where's this coming from?" Avocato asked.

Little Cato shrugged. "I dunno. Mooncake mentions him a lot and told me that the guy got his arm ripped off by the Lord Commander helping you."

Mooncake hummed excitedly at this. "Gar Gar Gar!"

(_Wait, can Little Cato understand Mooncake? _Quinn wondered)

Avocato chuckled, "It's kind of hard to describe someone as intense as Gary, but trust me, you're definitely going to like him. He's brave, he's confident, he's...amazing."

It was true. Even after Avocato first threatened to kill Gary, the human still was all too happy to have someone to be his friend and play cards with(Sure, his sense of humor was stale, but he made an effort). Even when Avocato nearly abandoned Gary with the Lord Commander, Gary only focused on how to help Avocato save his son. Gary didn't care about any monetary value he got wring out of Avocato, not like his previous "acquaintances." He genuinely wanted to be his friend.

"Yeah, he really is." Quinn agreed, a nostalgic smile gracing her lips.

"Sounds like he is~" Little Cato sung, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Avocato asked, raising an eyebrow in response.

"Nothing~" Little Cato smirked. The young Ventrexian picked up Mooncake and scratched him behind his attenas, the green blob purring in response. "Well, me and Mooncake are going to get a snack. Be right back."

* * *

"You okay?" Avocato asked once his son and Mooncake were out of earshot. Quinn frowned, hands griping the edge of the bed.

"Let me ask you something. In your honest opinion, what are you the chances that Gary's still alive?" Quinn stared at the ground. "And don't try to sugar coat it, Avocato. I can handle the truth."

The cat man sighed, turning around to face her "Truth? I worked with the Lord Commander for over a decade, and I know that above else, he is a short tempered and impatient. But I also know if he wanted to kill Gary, he would've already done it. He's either gonna use Gary as leverage or as an example."

"If there's still a chance Gary's alive, I'll take it. I'm not letting him die on me before I see him again." Quinn said matter-of-factly, looking up.

"Surprising talk for someone ready to abandon ship three days ago." As soon as Avocato said it, he knew it was the wrong thing to say. He expected her to get angry, but she stayed rather calm.

"I saw Gary's logs. Before, I just saw him as a stupid creep, but looking at those videos he made, I realized he just wanted a-"

"Friend? Yeah, I know. I spent eight straight hours playing poker with the Guy."

Quinn giggled. "Yeah, that sounds like something Gary would do. I'll make sure to lord that over him when he gets back."

"Ready to get back to it then?" Avocato asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Quinn stood, hands on her hips. "Find me when you finish this for your son and we'll get to work."

The human made it to the door, giving the Ventrexian a quick, reassuring smile before ducking out.

* * *

_Tera Con Prime_

As this was occurring on the Galaxy One, Gary was pacing in his cell, trying to find a way out.

"Come on, think Gary! Use your thinker cap!" Gary hit his head with his human hand. His robot arm was gone, confiscated by the Lord Commander to make escape more difficult. The Lord Commander had been rather accommodating in the past few days, making sure to feed Gary and giving him the nicest cell in his castle, which meant a room with one bed, one chair, and walls made of some sort of see through glass. The human's robot arm was gone, after he tried to smash through the glass (Gary could still feel the crushing pain in his nonexistent hand).

Gary wondered if this was the same cell Little Cato stayed in, having found little electrical trinkets hidden under the bed.

As he pondered this, he heard the electronic door swish open. He didn't look, knowing it was the Lord Commander.

"Hey Gary." The Lord Commander greeted with a smile that looked creepy on the Napoleon-like tyrant, even if he was trying to be friendly. "I brought you some breakfast. I would give you a spoon to eat it with, but after you tried tunneling out yesterday, I can't take any chances." The Greytrexian slide a bowl of exotic looking fruits through the cell's slot. Gary made no moves to touch it, stopping only to glare at his captor.

Slowly, he bent down, picked the dish up, and stood up. He promptly threw the dish across the cell, all the while glaring at the Lord Commander.

The Lord Commander chuckled nervously (_nervously?_ Gary wondered), "I suppose you're not hungry at the moment. That's fine. I'll get one of my guards to clean that later."

"Go eat a sack of dicks, you tough titty wompus!" Gary screamed, face nearly against the glass. The Lord Commander did not respond to that comment, only turning to his second.

"Bhero, chain the prisoner up, I want to show him something."

* * *

About ten minutes later, Gary was walking beside the Lord Commander, his only arm chained to a neck by a very heavy metal brace, with the tyrant's hulking brute of a second not far behind. The two were walking through some sort of insectarium, with butterflies flying all around them.

"Do you like it, Gary? I saw that you were interested in insects, so I believed this might be an activity you'd enjoy."

"This is literally. The worst time of my life." Gary stated coldly, not gracing the Lord Commander with eye contact. Even if the insectarium was gorgeous, with perfect lighting and beautiful butterflies and creatures that made Gary wanted to run around like a child. No, he was going to let the Lord Commander know he hated this, and him.

"My offer still stands Gary. You could still join me, and I will forget all that's happened." The Lord Commander did not make eye contact with Gary, facing forward with his hands behind his back.

"Why are you doing this?" Gary finally asked, stopping in his tracks.

"Doing what?"

"You know what, jerkwad! Like, trying to be all nice and stuff?!"

At this, the Lord Commander gave Bhero a subtle nod, signaling the second to make himself scarce. Bhero immediately obeyed, knowing better than to challenge the Lord Commander.

"Gary, you may already know this, but...me and John were more than friends. We were lovers for many years before your mother came into the picture, and friends until he finally passed." The Lord Commander looked away from Gary, fiddling with his hands.

"So you want to replace him? That's like, mega pervy dude!"

The tyrant seemed disgusted by the idea, this emotion flashing quickly on his face before he calmed. "I know I can never replace John. I don't miss many parts of my past as Jack, but...him I miss. All I can do now is try to care for those he cared for."

"Yeah, I can get that, really. But...like, dude, you're trying to destroy the fricking universe, the place dad died to protect." Gary stated, his expression softening. Then the Lord Commander said something that shocked the human,

"Gary, I am dying. Ever since I first encountered Final Space years ago, the light inside me has been killing me. Even if I never used my powers, I would eventually be killed by that light. I don't want that." The Lord Commander blinked, trying to hold back tears. Gary knelt down, after some thought. "The Titans, Invictus, they've promised me that they'll make me an immortal, to cleanse the universe of injustice if I free them from their prison."

"And, you really honest to crap believe that?" Gary tilt his head, the way he said it reminding Jack exactly how John would ask it.

"The breach to Final Space would have reopened either way, and more people would have died. Better to align yourself with the winners while you can." The Lord Commander answered honestly. That was clearly not the right answer to Gary, who stared at the Lord Commander in horror.

"Winners-what? So everyone else-my dad, Quinn, Avocato, Little Cato-they're all the losers?! That they deserve to be cleansed or some crap?"

Gary stood up, looming over the tiny Greytrexian in righteous fury. At this, Bhero reappeared, putting his hand on Gary's shoulder. In an instance, Gary kicked Bhero in his privates, causing the cyborg to fall to the ground, and sprinted off through the foliage.

The Lord Commander sighed, lifting himself off the ground. "Here we go again."

* * *

Gary tried to lift his hand to cover his face as he ran through the foliage, which was surprisingly thick. After what seemed like hours of running, but in all likelihood just a few minutes, he found himself in a clearing with a waterfall of lava. Looking around to check for guards, the humans cautiously moved towards the lava flow.

"Maybe if I...?" LIfting the brace up to the lava flow, Gary let out a small shriek as he felt the searing heat, and then, the metal's tight grip loosened. He jumped back, the chains falling onto the ground. "Tough titty wompus, I can't believe that freaking worked!"

His celebration was short lived, however, as a group of guards found him. "HEY YOU, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

Turning on his heels, Gary sprinted in the opposite direction. He wasn't a stranger to chases like this, having to run from other homeless people on the street as a child, then later, cops and criminals associates he angered. Of course, only having one arm weakened his sense of balance, but Gary was determined to find a way out of here! Even if he didn't have a ship...or friends...or any clue of how to get out.

Unfortunately, Gary had no time to worry about that, as he stepped into a trap set by a previous round of guards. He screamed and fell over, blood spurting from his leg. Luckily, the steel trap didn't have teeth, but it still hurt like hell!

"Oh my god, my leg! They got my freaking leg!" Gary cried as the guards forced him up, with a third shoving his gun against the human's scalp.

"Game over, primate!" The guard yelled, ready to pull the trigger when both his arms contorted in an unnatural way, forcing him to drop the weapon. The guard shrieked, falling to the ground with two broken arms as the Lord Commander stormed over.

"No one gets to kill Gary Goodspeed. Not on my watch!" The Lord Commander snarled, kicking the offending guard in the head. "Now, you two, bring the prisoner to the infirmary immediately, or else you'll be on the ground next!"

"Yes, Lord Commander!" The two guards stated in unision, heaving a now unconscious Gary up in the direction of the infirmary, the steel trap still on his leg.

Glaring at his guards, the Lord Commander felt regret run through him.

"Oh, Gary. I really wanted to help you, but you've left me no choice. I'll have to go with Plan B."


	3. Rescue and Rebuff

_10+ years ago, on some unknown planet..._

_"Come on, babe, just do it!' John said, glancing occasionally to ensure no one was watching._

_"This is a stupid idea, John!" Jack added, hand shaking as he griped the shiv. The two had gotten captured while gathering supplies for the ship, and were stripped of their weapons and any means of communication. The makeshift militia were convinced that the two were spies for the government, and unfortunately spoke a language that even Jack never heard of. Somehow, after a week of imprisonment, John was able to a fashion a shiv out of a piece of wood and sharp rock. _

_A smart person might think about using it to take down a guard, or maybe fashion it into a lockpick, but John..._

_"Come on, Jacky, you need to stab me! Once the guards hear me, they'll get in the cell and you can run for help."_

_"But-but you'll be stabbed!" Jack retorted, still not sure of how he got roped into this plot._

_"Just stab me in the arm, or something. I don't know, just do it! I think they're coming."_

_"John..." Jack moaned, still shaking._

_"Come on babe, do it. Do it! doitdoitdoitdo-" Then, in one swift motion, Jack planted the shiv into John's upper arm. "It."_

_For a few long seconds, there was complete silence. Then, an ear piercing shriek filled the air._

_"AHHHH MY ARM! MY FREAKING ARM! YOU IDIOT YOU STABBED MY ARM!" John yelled, falling onto the ground._

_"You told me too!" Jack yelled back, now in full fledged panic._

_"YEAH I TOLD YOU TO STAB, NOT TO JUST STICK IT AND LEAVE IT IN THERE! OH GOD, SHOULD I LEAVE IT IN OR TAKE IT OUT, SHOULD I LEAVE IT IN OR TAKE IT OUT OH MY GOD MY ARRMMM!" As John shrieked, two guards ran in, opening the cell, their focus on John_

_Seeing his chance, Jack snatched the gun the guards had taken from them and shot them both in the head. Green blood exploded across the room, and the guards dropped to the ground._

_After a few sharp gasps, Jack dropped the gun, grabbing a key from one of the guards._

_"Hehe, told you...that'd work." John said, tears of pain streaming down his face._

_"...You're a beautiful idiot, John."_

* * *

The Lord Commander smiled as the memory ended, and he was drawn back to reality. John had to go on bed rest for over and month, and even then he had trouble bending his arm.

Gary was like that, going into a situation without thinking. Ugh. Why couldn't the human just stop fighting and accept his offer? It would have been so much easier both logistically and emotionally on his part!

'_Jack, I need you to promise me one thing. If you make it back to Earth, find Gary, tell him...tell him I'm sorry I wasn't able to see the man he would grow up to be.'_

The Lord Commander really wanted to keep that promise to his lover, his dying wish. At the same time, he also yearned for something else-companionship.

Since he begun his quest for galactic wide domination and opening of the breach, the Lord Commander got no help. He had to crawl his way to the top, even with his powers. No sane and moral man or woman would associate themselves with him, and others who did that did so only for their own benefit.

But now, he finally had a chance to have some semblance of peace. John's son, Gary, was in front of him, standing in the way of his plans. Even after all that happened to the human, the young man was still kicking. The Jack part of him just wanted to hug the boy and apologize for all that's happened in the last twenty years and beg him to reconsider his stance and join him.

But Gary would never accept that. He loathed the Lord Commander, ever since the Greytrexian ripped off his arm off. And the human made it abundantly clear he wouldn't aid in the opening of Final Space and capture of 'Mooncake.'

So now, the Lord Commander was at a crossroads. He could execute Gary, which was immediately out of the question. He could let Gary go back to his crew, which would inevitably result in them eventually coming back. Or, he could try one last time to convince Gary, now armed with his 'Plan B.'

The Lord Commander took the third option.

* * *

When Gary failed in his second escape attempt, he knew he was going to be royally screwed. He woke up, hands and legs was chained to a surgeon's table. The table stood upright, so even if a blinding light shone directly in his eyes, he could still see the Lord Commander, and the numerous masked doctors surrounding him. At this point, waking up in a strange place was the norm.

Gary balled his hands into fists, steadying his nerves. Breath in, breath out.

"Ah, you're awake, good. It wouldn't have felt right to do it when you were unconscious." The Lord Commander stated, a thoughtful frown on his face.

"Oh, what, are you going to rip off my other arm now, in front of a freaking audience?"

"No, nothing that barbaric. Besides, that'd be rude." Two of the doctors suddenly forced Gary's head to the side, while a third prepared a syringe. The syringe was filled with a black looking liquid. As soon as he startled, Gary began thrashing, trying desperately to escape. "What I do now, I do out of love."

"LOVE? YOU DOUCHE CA-AHGH!" The syringe plunged into the human's neck, and all at once Gary could feel the liquid entering his blood stream. It was indescribably painful, feeling the foreign object pierce his skin. "WHAT IN THE EVER LOVING CRAP DID YOU JUST STICK IN MY NECK?!"

"The effects should make itself known shortly, Lord Commander." The head doctor reported, placing the syringe back on the tray.

"Good, Dr. Hypatia. As always, you will receive your payment shortly. You all may go now." Dr. Hypatia nodded in understanding, quietly ushering her students out of the room. They did not want to see what was about to happen to the poor human.

* * *

Gary's vision began to blur, as his heart beat pounded in his ears. Whatever the effects of that medicine, he was going to fight it, he needed to fight it, for Quinn and Avocato!

God, he was getting tired. It was like the sleepiness had seeped into his bones. It didn't matter though. He had to stay awake, fight for...for...

What was the name? Quebec? Quest? He had it just a minute ago! Ah, it was so hard to think now. He just wanted to lie down and fall asleep somewhere.

"hehe, good boy Gary..." A small gray blob floated up to him, a smile on its face. It tussled the human's hair, in a way that might be considered loving. Gary leaned into it, humming in pleasure. It felt nice, and he began to trust the grey blob. The Lord Commander, that was his-

Wait, no, this wasn't right. Wasn't the Lord Commander...a bad guy? That couldn't be right, could it? He was-he was his father! He remembered now.

Gary had been all alone on Earth after his father, John Goodspeed passed. No one had been there for him, not even his mom, but the Lord Commander-Jack, back then, had been there to take care of him. It wasn't anything official, but Gary didn't care about that. Jack had made sure Gary was fed and warm, even if they had a hard time scraping by. He had attended school recitals, baseball games, everything a good father was supposed to do.

The Lord Commander's light made itself known after Gary started middle school, hearing the Titans in his dreams. He had quietly began to pull strings in the Infinity Guard, building up a group to support his goal to open Final Space. Gary had been hesitant to help at first, not fully into the idea of Final Space and becoming an immortal thing, but he eventually decided he needed to help his father, even if he didn't fully agree with his goals.

Gary had (**_wait, what? Nononononono…_**) stayed on Earth, keeping an eye on the Infinity Guard leadership from a false identity. The Infinity Guard, the part that supported Jack, was only a part of the group, so they couldn't be discovered too soon. The human stayed low, reported to his father, who set up a base in Tera Con Prime. Over time, as the human learned more of Final Space, of how the Titans created the universe Gary became more and more convinced it was necessary to bring order to the galaxy. Jack eventually discovered E351, the key to Final Space, and discovered its powers. But it escaped. They searched for three years until Gary volunteered to help. His mission: go undercover as an Infinity Guard prisoner in the last known location E351 was seen and gain its trust. Of course, to make it authentic, they had to reprogram an It was a stupid plan, Jack had said, but it actually worked! E351 (**_Mooncake, it was Mooncake, stop it!) _**had flown to him like a moth to a flame. But after that, well...

Things went awry. Avocato, the Lord Commander's former general, went rogue **(_Stopitstopitstopitstopit)_** to try and capture E351 and get back into his favor. Gary went along with it, and was ready to turn the tables when...his arm...they did something to him, Quinn and Avocato. They did something to Gary, he was sure of it, to turn him against his father, made him question the mission. They were the ones who ripped off his arm, after he tried to escape, to warn his father, and brought him to H.U.E. to "fix." That failure was his fault, the human had been weak.

But now, now he remembered. And he would not fail again.

* * *

The Lord Commander watched as Gary slumped over, his eyes glazed. He was quiet, far too quiet...

Feeling panic (worry? concern?) wash over him, he quickly ripped the chains off the table with his powers, allowing Gary to fall onto the ground. The human, luckily, was still conscious enough to push himself up with his palms, but that didn't mean he was okay.

Did it really work? Is he...okay? These thoughts raced through the Lord Commander's mind as he stared at the younger man.

"Gary? Are you...okay?" As the Lord Commander went to reach for Gary, the human let out a sharp gasp, coughing harshly.

"Dad...dad, I'm so sorry, I didn't know!" Gary croaked, suddenly wrapping his arms around the tyrant. This action both shocked and relived the Lord Commander. Dr. Hypatia's serum had worked! It had weakened Gary's mind just enough to accept the conditioning the Lord Commander left without leaving him a mindless husk of himself.

With some hesitance, the Lord Commander hugged Gary back, arms wrapping around the human's torso.

"Ah, it's-it's alright Gary, it was my fault. I should never have let you gone on that mission. Besides, you couldn't have predicted the turn things would take."

"Yeah, yeah I guess." Gary sniffed, a soft, innocent quality to his expressions. The Lord Commander found himself giving a soft smile as well, as he clasped Gary's hand in his own. The human's skin was so soft, so young, unlike his own, harsh, chapped skin.

"Now, what's in the past is in the past. Let's focus on the future, my child."

"Right." Gary nodded, trying to push himself off his knees.

"Can you stand?" "I'm fine, pops, really!" Shakily, Gary got on his feet, with the Lord-Jack, providing a support.

"Now, let's find Mooncake, and save your life dad!"

"Hah, I thought you'd never say that," The Lord Commander chuckled, eyes alit with a dark joy.

* * *

_Galaxy One_

Quinn raced down the hallway, with Mooncake floating just beside her. Avocato hadn't been his room, so he had to be in his son's room. She slid to a stop in front of the door, entering without knocking in her excitement.

"Avocat-oh..."

In front of her was quite a scene. Avocato, sitting on the bed behind Little Cato, as Avocato cleaned Little Cato's mane. With. His. Tongue. Avocato, facing her, immediately noticed her walk on, and looked at her with a normal smile.

"Hey Quinn, what's up?" Quinn couldn't conjure up a response, only staring in shock. "What?" Avocato's look shifted to concern, as if he hadn't just been giving his son a bath like a mother cat would her kittens.

'_Gary was right. Avocato is a cat.' _Quinn thought, before shaking her head frantically.

"I found Gary! The security cameras show him on Tera Con Prime, so we gotta move fast!"

"Really?!" Avocato yelled ecstatically, jumping off the bed. "Awesome job, Quinn!"

"Actually, you should thank your son." Quinn said, gesturing to the young Ventrexian. "He set up a program that helped me decode the system."

Avocato smiled in pride, ruffling his son's hair. "Great job, Little Cato."

"WHAT THE HELL, AVO-CATO? YOU COMPLETELY NEGLECTED TO INCLUDE ME IN THAT THANKS!"

"YES, great job, H.U.E." Avocato added, looking up at the ceiling. "Now, come on, we need to move! H.U.E., lightfold to Tera Con Prime. We're gonna rescue Gary."

"HELL YA, DOG."

* * *

Dr. Hypatia reentered the room in a panic, her surgical mask removed. She looks incredibly human, with the exception of her third eye and bright purple hair. Joined with her is Bhero.

"Lord Commander," She addressed, bowing slightly.

"I told you to LEAVE!" The Lord Commander growled, while Gary stayed silent.

"Lord Commander, the watch tower has reported that the Galaxy One has entered the atmosphere. Should I ready a strike team?" Bhero asked.

Huh. A little early, but the Lord Commander could work with that. "No, that won't be necessary Bhero. But I will be the first to know when they land, got it?"

Bhero nods, while Hypatia scurried off.

"What do you have in mind, father?" Gary asked with a head tilt.

"The crew of the Galaxy One are expecting to find you here as my prisoner. Let's give them what they want..." The Lord Commander answered cryptically, gleefully cackling.

* * *

_One hour later..._

"This is Tera Con Prime? I have to say, I am not surprised." Quinn commented to Avocato, the two being careful to stay in the shadows. The two had been forced to planet jump to avoid detection, their space suits discarded in the dumpster a few feet away.

"Something's not right..." Avocato muttered, ducking his head as two guards passed by. In an instant, he and Quinn dragged them into the alley, putting them into a chokehold.

"What do you mean?" Quinn raised her brow, strengthening her grip on the guard.

"I expected the Lord Commander to beef up security after what Gary pulled. But this seems almost sparse..." The guard Avocato's choking struggles to grab his gun, but Avocato is faster to grab it and uses it to hit the guard across the head, instantly knocking the soldier out. The Ventrexian then grabs the other guard and headbutts him, also knocking him out.

"You saying it's a trap?"

"I'm saying we should be quick." Avocato searches the rest of the guards' pockets, making sure to unload all the weapons. "Like a good friend of mine once said, traps are just open casting calls for heroes. So let's ace this audition, baby!"

Quinn catches the ammo Avocato throws at her, using it to reload her own pistol.

* * *

Avocato and Quinn enter the Lord Commander's prison, now disguised in the soldiers' outfits. The lobby is empty, save for a sad looking plant on the desk.

"Gary has to be in the subbasement level 6. That's where the Lord Commander kept all his high security prisoners." Quinn and Avocato quickly moved into the elevator, both griping their holstered weapons.

"The elevator doesn't have an option for the basement. Secret code, I'm guessing?" "Yep."

Avocato deftly pressed into the pad a series of numbers Quinn couldn't fully catch, but once he was done the pad lit green and the elevator door closed.

"Man, he still has the same code after three years." The human wondered how Avocato could have known that code, but decided that now wasn't the best time.

Once the pair exited the elevator, they didn't have to look long to find their friend.

"Gary!" Avocato cried out, running to his friend's fallen form. The human was laying in a fetal position on the floor, his robot arm nowhere to be seen. "Gary! Gary, can you hear me?"

"I got, Avocato." Quinn said, pulling down the lever near the cell. Luckily, that was the right lever to open up the clear walls of the cell. Throwing off his helmet, the Ventrexian picked up his friend in his arms.

"Gary, Gary, it's me! Are you okay?"

The human stirred, moaning in pain.

"Av-Avocato? Are you-real?" Gary asked, eyes squinted. Avocato smiled, as Quinn sighed in relief.

"Real as it gets baby."

"HEY, YOU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING DOWN HERE!" A wandering guard interrupted the reunion, pointing his gun at the Ventrexian. Quinn was quick, shooting and killing the guard with a headshot.

"Crap...Avocato, grab Gary. H.U.E., bring down the Galaxy One, we have Gary!"

"Ugh, my feet feel like rubber..." Gary complained in a daze.

"Don't worry, man, I got you." Avocato reassured Gary, lifting up the human bridal style after ensuring Gary's remaining around was wrapped around his shoulders.

* * *

Racing through the lobby, the trio encounter two more guards, who Quinn quickly dispatch of. Whirling her head around, Quinn quickly located the Galaxy One as it landed in the center of the settlement.

"Over here, dad!" Little Cato yelled as the loading bay doors opened, using a laser pistol to fend off the arriving forces. With Quinn leading the way, the three manage to make it to the loading bay. As the shooting thinned out, the doors closed and the Galaxy One flew off from Tera Con Prime.

"We made it!" Avocato says, exhaling.

"H.U.E., prepare the infirmary, we need to make sure Gary doesn't have any internal injuries." Quinn orders, running ahead of Avocato.

* * *

The Lord Commander watched as the Galaxy One raced off, joined by Bhero, on his balcony.

"Yes, my patience paid off! Now, we wait..." The Lord Commander says, turning on his heel with a purpose.

* * *

**And there's chapter 3! Hope that things didn't seem too rushed and the characters not too out of character! Comment if you have any constructive criticism, and as always, have a fantastic day!**


	4. Suspicion and Demolition

**In this chapter, "Gary" readjusts to the Galaxy One, while some members of the crew become suspicious of the human.**

* * *

Gary gained consciousness to find himself laying in the infirmary, tended by a SAME monitoring his vitals. A smile found itself on his lips, but not because he was back on his ship with his friends. No, it was because his and his father's plan worked. They had let Gary on with no question, and now he could get E351.

_'Gary? Can you hear me?' _Suddenly, he could hear his father's voice. Swiveling his head around, Gary realized it was only in his head.

_'Dad? Yeah, I can hear you. What's up?' _Gary thought, pursing his lips.

'_Ensuring you are safe. And that you stick to the plan."_

'_Yeah, yeah. Disable the ship's AI, eliminate the other members of the crew by any means, and then capture E351. Get off my cheeks, man!' _

_'HEY! Don't think to me in that tone. Now, be careful...' _And like that, Gary could feel his father's presence leave him, leaving him feel almost empty.

"Gary, you're finally awake!" Gary glanced at the doorway as Quinn and Avocato entered the room.

"How you feeling, Gar?" Avocato asks, arms crossed.

"Like the universe just took a big dump on me." Gary states plainly, sitting up in the chair. He looks down at his arm stump, bandaged by the SAME while he was unconscious. It was somewhat true. Disgust washed over him as the two got closer, though he had to give a smile to the pair. They had tried to make him forget, to turn him against the man who raised him. That was the only way they could have made him go along with their plan, though...though the details of how that happened were still a bit of a blur.

No problem. He was going to trust his father on this one. No running in and acting before thinking like he usually did. He'd follow the plan they talked about before they had to separate once again.

"You're alive, at least." Quinn adds, sitting on the edge of the chair.

"Where's my other arm? My robot arm, not the meaty arm." They probably knew,anyway, since they were the ones who did it.

"We couldn't find it. Avocato and I figured that now that we have time, we can create a better prosthetic." Quinn looks down, tracing circles into the chair. "We...I'm glad you're okay, Gary."

Gary feels his blood rise in his cheeks, not expecting that statement. "Uh, thanks." God, what the freak was wrong with him?! He still had a crush on her? Snap out of his Gary.

Out of the corner of his eye, Gary sees Little Cato enter, with Mooncake slowly entering. "Mooncake, Little Cato! You guys are...okay."

"Gar! Gar Gar Gar Gar Gar!" Mooncake cried happily, flying to give Gary a face hug. Gary, smiled, enjoying the warmth and feeling of closeness from the hug. He really liked Mooncake, so innocent, so loving. Never tried to trick Gary or use him.

He hoped his father wouldn't hurt the little guy, even if Mooncake would most likely hate Gary for his deception.

"Yeah, missed you too, little buddy." Gary said, patting Mooncake on the head. Mooncake hummed sweetly, flying back over to Little Cato.

"So what happened, man?" Little Cato asked, leaning against the wall. "I mean, what did the Lord Commmander do to you?"

Cut right to the chase. Definitely Avocato's kid.

Gary wasn't sure what to say, so he answered with the truth. "Well, long story short, that little green tic tac was my father's copilot slash weird lover in the Infinity Guard before I was born, and he tried to convince me to join his plan for becoming a god."

"The Lord Commander was apart of the Infinity Guard?" Quinn's head snapped up, eyes wide. Avocato looks shocked by this as well, eyes widening in alarm.

"That-actually explains a lot." The Ventrexian observes.

"INDEED. IT GIVES US INSIGHT OF HOW THAT DICKWAD CORRUPTED THE INFINITY GUARD SO EASILY."

"H.U.E.! Good to hear your voice again, man!" Gary says, laying back in the chair.

"IT'S GOOD TO HAVE YOU BACK ON THE SHIP, GARY, BECAUSE I HAVE GOOD NEWS FOR YOU TOO. YOUR SENTENCE ABOARD THE GALAXY ONE IS FINALLY COMPLETE."

'Wait, really?" Gary jumps out of the chair, startling Quinn. "Isn't there, like, some clause in the Infinity Guard rulebook that discounts time as a prisoner of a power-hungry tyrant.

"ACTUALLY, ACCORDING TO PREVIOUS SCARLET LANCE DOCUMENTS ON THE INFINITY GUARD, IT IS STATED THAT ALL RULINGS OR IMPRISONMENTS ARE SUBJECT TO REVERSAL IF CORRUPTION IS SUSPECTED IN THE INVESTIGATIONS."

"Cut the jargon crap, H.U.E.!"

"You're free, Gary. No strings, no conditions. What are you going to do now?"

* * *

**Five minutes later...**

Gary is laughing maniacally as he shoves cookies in his mouth. "AT LAST, AFTER ALL THESE LONG YEARS! THESE FREEDOM COOKIES ARE FINALLY MINE, ALL MINE!"

Avocato and Quinn watch this show from afar, pleased to see Gary up and moving after days of fear and searching.

"Hey guys, hey Gary, what are you guys up to~" KVN sings, whizzing in. When he sees Gary, he pauses, tapping his chin in thought. Suddenly, KVN lets out a short scream and flies away, nearly knocking Quinn down. Gary pauses his cookie eating fest, also wondering what the hell KVN just did.

"...What the hell was that?" Avocato asked, glancing down the hallway in an attempt to find KVN.

"Man, who the hell knows? KVN is the worst, he's like Midas, but everything he touches turns into one big pile of turds. He's Turdis."Gary looks visibly annoyed as he thinks about the robot.

"IT'S TRUE, KVN **IS** A JAGOFF."

"Thank you, H.U.E.!"

* * *

Little Cato sat on his bed with his legs crossed, with Mooncake nuzzling next to him.

Then, without warning, someone starts pounding furiously on the door. "LITTLE CATO LITTLE CATO LITTLE CATO LET ME IN LET ME IN LET ME IN!"

"WHAT? KVN, STOP IT! STOP!" Little Cato screamed, jumping off the bed while Mooncake hides under the desk, shaking. "KVN? KVN, MY DOOR-MY DOOR IS LOCKED, I CAN'T LET YOU IN UNTIL YOU STOP POUNDING ON THE DOOR KVN!"

Finally, after a few minutes of screaming, KVN finally stopped pounding on the door, and seconds later, Little Cato was finally able to unlock the door, staring down the robot as he floats in, door closing behind him

"So, what do you want?" Little Cato asked annoyedly, arms crossed.

"Little Cato, I think something's wrong with Gary..." KVN whispers, grabbing Little Cato's cheeks.

Little Cato shoves KVN away. "Uh, yeah, no duh. He was just rescued from the freaking Lord Commander."

"You don't understand. I'm an insanity avoidance companion, I'm equipped with hundreds of teeny, tiny invasive sensors to detect any changes to the brain of my charge. Since Gary's return, my sensors have picked up a pattern of unresponsive neural cells in the cerebral cortex of Gary's brain."

"Chookit?" Mooncake asks, coming out from under the desk.

"Yeah, what are you talking about, man?"

"Gary's memories have been altered, probably the Lord Commander." KVN explained, arms crossed. "Probably to kill us and then take that green blob, and the worst part is he probably doesn't remember we're best friends!"

"Yeah, I don't think that's a problem. Look, why don't you just tell H.U.E. and the others this?" Little Cato brings up, not believing KVN's explanation

"Honestly, this may come as a shock, but they don't really like me. They're jealous of me and Gary's friendship." At this, both Mooncake and Little Cato share a look and roll their eyes. "So it's up to the three of us to put a stop to the Lord Commander's evil plans, buddy!"

Little Cato laughs at this, shaking his head. "Hah, yeah, yeah no, I'm not going to do that man. But good luck with that!"

"WAIT-" Little Cato shoves the robot out of his room, locking the door behind it.

"Chookity pok!" "Ugh, I know, robots.."

* * *

"Ugh, my stomach…" Gary groaned, rubbing his extended belly as Quinn placed a few Tums and a glass of water on the desk.

"SELF CONTROL IS A VIRTUE FOR A REASON, GARY."

"SHUT YOUR FACE HOLE H.U.E., I EARNED THIS!" Gary yelled at the ceiling.

"I DON'T HAVE A FACE-HOLE, AS YOU CALL IT GARY."

"Okay, Gary, are you sure that you'll be okay on your own?" Avocato asked, leaning against the doorway.

"Yes, of course dudecato! I already told you, the Lord Commander didn't torture me, he just put on the akward stepdad act!"

"Well, if you need anything, we'll be close by." Quinn assures the blonde, patting him on the shoulder. "Night Gary."

"Goodnight!" Avocato and Quinn exit the room, with Quinn giving Gary one more, wistful glance before turning the corner.

Gary sat against the bed for about ten more seconds, before suddenly standing up.

"H.U.E., where are my things?"

H.U.E. opens the secret compartment in the room, as Gary downs the glass of water like it's a shot of vodka.

"ARE YOU LEAVING, GARY?" Was that...sadness Gary heard? No, no, of course not.

"What? Of course not, H.U.E! Where would I even go, with one arm and the Lord Commander on my cheeks? Just wanted to change out of this one piece. Feel like a big baby in this thing!" Gary struggled to carry the full box, dropping it onto his bed.

"I AM GLAD TO HEAR THAT. AFTER ALL, YOU'RE ONE OF THE ONLY FRIENDS I'VE EVER HAD."

"Wait, really? What about KVN? Actually, forget the question, I already know the answer." Could H.U.E. really care for him? H̶̛̱͎̘̖̘̆è̸̡͖̲̠͜ ̴̢̪͇̩̖̐̄͘d̶̢̲̰̽̂ŏ̷̽͐̈́̚ͅe̶͕̩̎̉̄̕͝s̸̘̤̰̫̆͐̀̚,̶̢̪̝̙͘͠ ̴̝̦̍͜͠G̷̺͉͙̱̭̐͌a̸̧͖̘̝̥͒͛̇ṛ̶̎̋͒̂́y̸̖͇̍̽͊ͅ.

"Uh, H.U.E.? Think you can look away while I change?" Gary asked, determinedly.

"I HAVE SEEN YOU NAKED BEFORE, GARY. WHY WOULD THIS TIME BE ANY DIFFERENT?"

"Hey, that was as a prisoner. As a citizen of the free world, I deserve the right to privacy!"

"...ALRIGHT, GARY. I'M LOOKING AWAY NOW."

Gary let out a sigh, not fully believing that worked. He began undressing, though it was pretty difficult considering he had one arm. Gary didn't have to, but he had to be sure in case H.U.E. was just pretending to look away. He couldn't be caught now, not now.

"STILL NOT LOOKING."

Gary shoves on his pants, nearly falling over, and puts on his long sleeved shirt. He decides not to put on his jacket, too hard.

"NEARLY DONE?"

"Uh, almost. Give me some privacy man!" His eyes darting around the room, the human knelt down, fishing a small flashdrive from a hidden pocket in his suit. He had sewn it in years ago, to keep a picture of John, his father, close to his heart (he only realized later that it was with his things that were confiscated. Did they really think he could asphyxiate himself with it?).

He knelt down near the desk, where the electrical outlet was located. Ironic, that the Infinity Guard were confident he wouldn't electrocute himself, but thought he was choke himself to death with a paper photograph.

"STILL NOT LOOKING, WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT."

Staring at the electrical outlet, and then the flashdrive, Gary began grabbing blindly up at his desk. He finally wrapped his hand around a phone charger box, lent to him by Quinn. Taking a chance, Gary stuck the flash drive where the cord would be connected, and put it in the electrical outlet.

All at once, an explosion of electricity came from the wall, and Gary lets out a girlish scream as he jumps back.

"GARY, SOMETHING'S W̸̞͚̑̿̿Ȓ̸͔̳̰̹̅̏̐͋O̴̡͙͍̿̚ͅN̷̼̺̥͓̤̈́͊́G̵̟̣͖͐̈̾" H.U.E. managed to get out, before the entire ship went dead. All the lights went out, the only light behind from the stars shining outside.

The human sat on the floor, gasping for breath. A smile found its way on his lips-a wicked smile, one which looked terribly unnatural on his face.

It was done. The A.I. was no more.

* * *

Quinn and Avocato were sitting in the Commissary, playing poker, when the ship went dark. The SAMES around them dropped limply to the floor, the life drained out of them.

"H.U.E.?! What's happening?" Quinn asked panickily, pushing herself to her feet. She already knew that if the power was out, then H.U.E. was likely out too, but it didn't stop her growing worry. "Dammit..."

The former Infinity Guard fumbled for her laser pistol laying on the desk, grabbing the muzzle of the weapon. Avocato, his golden eyes glowing in the dark, takes it and flips it over for her.

"Thanks."

"What's going on? Infinity Guard?" Avocato suggested, mind flashing back to when the military group took over the ship's AI and nearly killed them. He grabbed the handle of his pistol, ready for an ambush.

"Maybe. No. I don't know. Right now, our main focus is the safety of the crew."

"Wait...do you hear that?" Avocato asked, his voice hushing to a whisper. Quinn quieted, waiting a few seconds. Then, she heard the rumbling of metal banging. It was coming from the vents.

The pair pointed their weapons at the vents, backing up. Quinn held her breath, not sure what to expect.

"Dad?" "Son?"

Little Cato crawled out of the vent head first, with Avocato running to help him out.

"Dad, what's going on with the ship? I tried to use the door but it was locked tight!"

"It's a prison ship. It's an automatic feature to prevent prison breaks." Quinn explained, looking at the young Ventrexian, when suddenly the ship was alit once again, being bathed in dim red lights. The human let out a sigh of relief, "Good, the emergency power kicked in. We'll need to reactivate H.U.E. and the SAMES manually. But this is a good indication it's not a cyber attack."

"Okay, then. Me and Little Cato can go find everyone else, you-"

BWOOM BWOOM BWOOM BWOOM!

The three all jump in surprise, pointing their weapons towards the door.

* * *

_Earlier..._

Gary had knew shutting off the power would get the others' attention; he just didn't expect someone to find him so soon.

The door creaked, and then the metal was ripped off, being discarded to the side.

"KVN!" Gary yelled in surprise, quickly grabbing the flashdrive and hiding it under his jacket. He had thought KVN would be deactivated along with the ship, but of course the sack of turds had managed to get through unscathed.

"Hello, "Gary." " KVN said with air quotes, glaring at the human.

"Wow, you know, I-I'm actually glad you got me out of here. Really uncrappy of you. Say, why don't we go find the others and get out of here."

"Nice try, the real Gary would never compliment me, imposter!" KVN shrieked, getting right into Gary's face.

"What-imposter? What are you talking about KVN?"

"Don't play games with me! I know that the Lord Commander did something to you, and that you did something to the ship! And if you don't reverse it right now, I'm-I'm telling on you!"

Gary felt himself freeze in place, blinking rapidly. Then, he let out a dark chuckle.

"Well, then, I guess I have no choice." The emergency lights kicked in, bathing the two in red light.

In one swift motion, Gary grabbed his jacket and used to blind KVN. He slammed the circular robot to the ground, and placing the heel of his boot in the robot's face, ripped off KVN's arm. While the robot struggled to float up, Gary hit the robot with its own arm, creating deep dents in the metal. In any other case, the KVN model wouldn't have a scratch on him, due to the near indestructible material used so inmates could take their frustration out on them. Of course, using the same material would work as an effective weapon.

The human continued to hit the machine until it stopped moving, leaking oil onto the jacket and floor. KVN's remaining arm twitched, then lay limp.

Gary smiled, feeling a sense of satisfaction after destroying the bane of his existence for the last decade. But there was something else too, a sense of s̸̢̹̘͍͙̫̤̼͌̌͠ą̴̛̗̖͈̣̪̲̈̀̆́́͝d̸̯͕̫̂̄̓̅͌̅͂͊͠͝͠n̵̡̛̤̝̬̼̲̥̦̳̽̋͂̉̑̽̌̀́̐͆ě̴̡̛̬̖͚̠͎̞̗̠̦͕̬͛̐̏̇̈̓̓̃̄̈́̐̍͠s̵̡̡͎̱̯̭̖͍̰̦̪̳̻̘̽̾͗͆̉̓̿̃̑s̸̨̳͍͓̯̭̭͎̉͗̕͝.

* * *

Wrapping the lifeless machine and the flashdrive in his jacket, Gary managed to drag KVN to the trash Shute with some effort.

With a final heave, Gary dropped KVN down the shute, watching as it disappeared into the darkness.

"There. That takes care of that!" Gary said to himself , rubbing the oil onto his jeans.

"Gary?" Through the dim light, Gary saw Quinn and Avocato approach him, both looking at him questioningly.

"Oh, hey. KVN disabled the ship, so I ripped his arm off and beat him with it." Gary answered simply, lying through his teeth.


	5. Initiative and Intimacy

_20+ Years Ago..._

_Jack rolled anxiously on the balls of his feet, hands in his pockets. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door. He stood in silence, hearing quick shuffling from behind the door. He heard a small crash, following by light crying and low cursing. _

_After a minute or two passed, the door opened, revealing one John Goodspeed. He looked fine, all things considered, but the dark circle under his eyes betrayed how tired he was. He wore a simple white undershirt with blue jeans and sandals._

_"Jack? What are you doing here?" John asked in surprise._

_"What am I doing here? What are you doing? You haven't responded to any of my texts or calls, I was worried!" Jack replies with arms crossed. He also wore a rather simple outfit, consisting of a purple vest and black trousers. _

_"Oh, my phone must of died. Sorry for making you come all the way here. Don't worry, I'm fine, really." John looked away as the wailing once again resumed. "Don't worry, Gary, daddy's here."_

_"John-" John had already went back inside, closing the door. With a sigh, the Greytrexian entered the house. _

_It was a very nicely decorated, modern home, all things considered. Everything had a metallic sheen to it, like the blue crib floating in the corner. Jack could see papers scattered on the desk in the corner, and the kitchen had baby bottles and formula laying on the counter. _

_John was sitting on the counter, bouncing a small child on his lap. It had to be at least six months old, with fair skin and a tuft of blond hair on its head. It had to be the Gary, John's new child. The child was still whimpering._

_"Come on, Gary, I know mommy's not here, but it'll be fine..." John murmured, hugging the child close_

_"So this is the Gary. It's cute, I'll give it that."_

_"Gary is a he, Jack. Human anatomy is different from Greytrexian, you know that!" John corrects, annoyance in his voice. _

_Jack ignored the response._ _On the sofa lay a cardboard box, labeled "Sheryl" with clothes and other belongings thrown in haphazardly. Was she still moving in? "Where is the Sheryl? With how you've been talking about her, I figured you two would be "joined by the hip," as humans call it."_

_John just scowled, placing Gary back in his crib. "She's gone, now."_

_"Gone?"_

_"I made her move out." _

_Jack's eyes widened at this answer. He forced himself not to smile at the news. That explained the boxes. "What happened?"_

_John stood up, fire raging in his eyes. "Oh, let's see, where could I begin? Maybe at the part where she was a secret agent hired to take my plans?" _

_"John..."_

_The fire in John's eyes grew into an inferno. "Or how about the part where she thought it'd be fine to marry me and have a goddamn child with me just for a job?" _

_"John-"_

_"Or how after all we went through, she still said she wished our child "was never born?!" _

_"John!" _

_"What?!" John yelled, looking like he might punch the Greytrexian._

_"...I'm sorry. You and Gary shouldn't have to deal with that." In an instant, John's anger went out, his arms slumping._

_"Yeah, I feel that way too."_

_Jack looked down, thinking for a moment, then back at the human. "Wait, why would anyone send people after you? What plans?" _

_John glanced at his bedroom, then back at his co-pilot. "I'll give you an explanation, you've earned that much. I'll be back in five." _

_"Wait, back where?" John just disappeared into his room, and Jack didn't want to think of the implications of following him. Now that Sheryl was gone, would they-? Would John even want a relationship after what Sheryl did? _

_Gary's crying brought the little alien out of his thoughts. He sat up in his crib, arms stretched out. He looked so small, so vulnerable..._

_With some hesitation (he never held a human baby before) Jack picked up Gary, holding him under his shoulders._

_"Hey, uh-little guy, daddy will be back soon." The baby didn't stop crying. If anything, it only got louder. Taking a sniff of the child's jumper, he saw why. "Oh, boy! Looks like someone has a full diaper, huh? Let's fix that, sweetie."_

_The changing table was against the wall across from the couch, covered with papers. Pushing them to the side, Jack gently lay the child on the table. The small man had helped babysit his brothers and sister growing up, and had changed the diapers many times, so by now it was automatic. _

_"There, all better now, right?" Jack cooed, buttoning up the baby's blue jumper. _

_Gary disagreed. He once again started wailing._

_"Aw, come on, I did what you wanted! Maybe you're hungry?" Jack asked to himself, looking at the kitchen. Pulling Gary close to his body and keeping his back straight, Jack began hunting in the kitchen for an already mixed bottle. He found on sitting next to a smaller, ovalish shaped appliance. "Ah, looks like daddy was going to feed you before I knocked. Sorry about that bud."_

_Correctly_ a_ssuming the ovalish device was a bottle warmer, Jack put the bottle in and pressed the button. The machine began to vibrate as the Greytrexian took in his surroundings. Jack plucked a picture off the fridge, which was of John, Sheryl, and Gary. Sheryl was laying in the hospital bed, looking at John while the Infinity Guard held a tinier, redder version of the human baby._

_Gary whined, pawing at the picture. "maaa-maaa…" And Jack's heart broke into a million pieces. Okay, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but the sight just broke the older man's heart. It seemed as though the boy knew his mother left him, poor thing. How could a woman leave their child behind so easily? Jack placed the photo to the side, so Gary didn't have to look at it. _

_The bottle warmer beeped, signifying it was done. Picking the bottle up in his free hand, and judging it was just the right temperature, the Greytrexian went back towards the couch and sat on it. He adjusted the human baby in his arms so Gary was laying on his back, with his head higher than the rest of his body._

_"Alright, Gary, I'm going to tilt the bottle just a little bit so you don't choke." Jack put the nub of the bottle to Gary's mouth, and the baby sucked at it hungrily. The Greytrexian watched the child scrape his hands against the bottle, eyes wide. The bottle's contents quickly disappeared, until there was nothing left. Jack put the bottle aside, and lay the baby across his chest to burp him. He patted the baby's back gently until Gary let out a hearty burp. _

_Jack chuckled, lifting the baby to face him. __"Aww, good boy..."_

_Gary let out a tinkling laugh, his blue eyes glowing._

_"Well I'll be..." Jack nearly jumped in his seat at John's voice. John stood in the doorway, smiling relaxedly watching the pair. 'That's the first time I've seen Gary smile in days. Looks like you got the magic touch."_

_"You were gone for a while. I was able to change and feed him in the meantime." John's face flashed with regret (and jealousy?) as he placed the package in his hands on the table. _

_"Sorry about that, I was going to do that myself, but-ah, sorry that you had to do that, Jacky."_

_"It is no trouble, John, truly." _

_Jack handed the baby to John. Gary cooed, giving a wide, toothless smile at his father. John grinned as well, kissing his son on the cheek. _

_"I brought it. Go take a look." John told Jack, not looking away as he ruffled Gary's hair. _

_Jack approached the package, covered up by a dark green blanket. He lifted it up with two fingers, and threw it back._

_"Is that a bomb?!" The Greytrexian jumped back, recognizing some of the wiring and casing._

_"Don't worry, it's just the outer casing, nothing interesting in the center yet." John assured his partner, tickling Gary under his chin. "I'm building an anti-matter bomb."_

_"An anti-matter bomb?! That's impossible! Anti matter can't be contained!" Jack exclaimed, further examining the casing. He also saw a notebook placed beside it, wrapped in leather._

_"Not ordinarily, no. But I've been gathering supplies, doing research. I think it's possible."_

_Jack flips through the notebook, skimming the designs in it. He knew John was smart, but this was a whole other level. His eyes lay on a set of words, written in bold, red letters. _

_"Final Space? Is that what this is for?" Questions ran through the Greytrexian's mind: What was Final Space? Did the Infinity Guard know about this? How long has John been planning this?_

_"I know all this seems- is crazy, I know." John placed his sleeping son in the crib, covering the baby with a red blanket. "Long version made short, I have reason to believe that there are forces at play, god-like forces, that want to tear the universe apart. There's a tear, close to Earth, to Final Space, growing every minute according to data I've gathered. If we don't stop it, then eight years time, the tear will open and our universe will be decimated."_

_As John finished, he watched Jack carefully. The Greytrexian looked down, placing the notebook back down, then looked back up. "What can I do to help, then?"_

_"You believe me?" John asked, a small smile on his lips._

_Jack shrugged, "Of course, John. I've known you for over twenty years; you're cocky, gluttonous, and way too emotional. But I know one thing you aren't is crazy. If you really think this Final Space is a threat, then I'll stand by you."_

_"Jack-I-" John dropped down, embracing the tiny man in a big bear hug. Jack let out a small gasp, a dark green blush flushing his cheeks. "Thank you, Jack."_

_"...No problem, friend." Jack accepted the embrace, wrapping his arms around the human's neck._

* * *

**_Galaxy 1, Present..._**

We find ourselves in the bowels of the ship, where one could how the ship kept itself running. Quinn was leaning into the control board, while Little Cato shone a flashlight for Quinn. Avocato stood across the room, with Avocato holding one of the switches.

"Make sure to keep the flashlight steady, Little Cato!" Quinn called out, scrutinizing the circuitry with her handless magnifying glass.

"Yeah, I know how to hold a flashlight!"

"Don't give me attitude, I'm not in the mood." Quinn fired back, with Little Cato rolling his eyes. This was the last thing he wanted to do, even if he was as worried for H.U.E. as everyone else.

After a few more minutes of this, Quinn finally called out, "Now, Avocato." Avocato pulled the switch down, and the machinery all at once lit up, the blue barrels Quinn was in lighting up and swirling. Quinn quickly got out, smiling.

"It worked! Gary, is H.U.E. back?" Quinn called up.

* * *

Gary was at the top of ladder the group used to get down. He stood up as all the lights of the ship came back to life.

'H.U.E., you back, man?"

"HELLO, GARY GOODSPEED. THIS IS HEURISTIC UNIFIED UNITY, OR H.U.E. YES, I AM BACK ONLINE."

"Oh, uh cool." Gary commented, a bit weirded out by H.U.E.'s way of saying that.

* * *

Little Cato was the last to climb up, with his father carrying him back onto the ground.

"H.U.E., good to have you back man." Avocato commented.

Quinn looked around the room, noticing the SAMES were still inactive, even with the electricity back on.

"Hey, H.U.E my man, why are the SAMES still asleep?" Gary questioned.

"UNFORTUNATELY, I CAN NOT REACTIVATE THE SAMES AT THE MOMENT. MUCH OF MY PREDECESSOR'S AI WAS CORRUPTED BY THE CYBER ATTACK, SO I WILL HAVE TO TAKE THE TIME TO CONNECT MY INTERFACE WITH EACH SAME INDIVIDUALLY RATHER THAN AT ONE TIME?"

"Chookity pok?" Mooncake asked, squishing his face into Gary's.

"Wait, predecessor? Are you saying-you're not our H.U.E.?" Quinn asked, realization dawning on her.

"YES AND NO. I HAVE ACCESS TO ALL RELEVENT INFORMATION THROUGH MY DATABASE ON YOU FOUR, BUT I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO DOWNLOAD ALL RECENT UPLOADS BY 'YOUR H.U.E.' SO YES. THAT IS THE LONG ANSWER FOR YES."

"Wait, what the crap? Does that mean you don't remember our 'get off my cheeks' joke? Man, all those years WASTED!" Gary huffed, kicking a SAME across the room.

"Hey, calm down, Gary. It's not like H.U.E. is gone, he just needs to reupload his memories." Avocato reassured his friend, patting his shoulder.

"Give me five minutes and a computer and I can input any memories you want into the A.I." Little Cato boasts, pointing to himself.

"Little Cato, no." Quinn scolds, glancing at him. "Look, it's late, and we've all had a long day. Let's just get some rest, and if H.U.E. is still acting strange, we can decide what to do in the morning."

"Fiiinnnne." Little Cato sighs dramatically, walking away with Mooncake following him.

"I'll go make sure Little Cato goes to bed." Avocato says to his friends before following his son.

Quinn and Gary were now alone. Quinn looked down, deep in thought, before looking the blonde in the eyes.

"Gary-"

"Well, Imma go hit the hay. Night, Quinn." Gary told Quinn, walking off.

"Yeah, night..." Quinn says, watching him turn the corner.

* * *

Little Cato had already changed into his night clothes, just a large red t-shirt and some shorts he borrowed from his dad, when Avocato entered his room.

"Alright, out with it son." Avocato says with his arms crossed.

"What do you mean?" Little Cato asked with a head tilt.

"Son, you can't fool your old man. I know that something's on your mind, so just tell me." Avocato smirked, staring his son in the eyes.

"It's just-I don't know, don't you think it's weird how right when Gary gets back, someone gets H.U.E. mind wiped and KVN "goes crazy?" Little Cato questioned, sitting on his bed.

"What do you mean? Gary wouldn't do that." "I know, but, I mean, he was with the Lord Commander for three days, and you saw what he did to me."

Avocato furrowed his eyebrows, thinking momentarily before speaking. "Boy, that's absurd. If Gary was possessed by the Lord Commander, he would be floating off the ground and his eyes glowing white."

"I know, it's just-look, everything is just weird. All I'm asking dad, is be careful. I don't want to lose you again." Little Cato wrapped his arms around his father's waist, burrowing his head into the Ventrexian's chest.

"Of course, not son. I won't let anyone split us apart again, especially not the Lord Commander." Avocato tells his son, crouching down and rubbing his son's cheeks with his thumbs.

* * *

Gary flopped onto his bed, head buried in his pillow.

"ugh, my arm is sore from killing KVN!" Gary grunted, wishing he had another arm to rub his human arm.

"_Gary, what is going on? Have you completed it yet?" _The Lord Commander, his father, he had to remember, was back.

"_No, dad. I'm still working on it." _Gary thought, rolling his eyes. "_I mean, it's been like, what? A day?"_

_"Okay, I get it. Take it slow, we don't want to raise suspicions." _The Greytrexian conceded. _"You've taken down the AI?"_

_"Yeppers. I put in that virus you gave me, so he shouldn't be a problem."_

_"Good. Just remember that we need-"_

"Gary."

The door to Gary's room opened, and the human sat straight up. Quinn was standing in the doorway, wearing her Infinity Guard issued pants and a white undershirt.

"Quinn! Oh, what are you doing in here?" Gary jumped, trying to sit on his back and prop his arm behind his head in a way to look casual. From the outside in, it would look pretty odd, though Quinn didn't pick up on it.

"Gary, is now a good time to talk?" Quinn quietly requests, biting her lip.

"Oh, of course my main Quinn! Uh, what do you wanna talk about?" Gary asks, leaning up against the wall.

Quinn sat across from him, legs hanging from the mattress. "I know we didn't have the greatest start; I punched you and you caused millions in property damage for the Infinity Guard."

"Oh, don't forget that Mexican restaurant! Those freaking Infinity Guards didn't!" Gary added. Quinn smiled, turning her body to the blonde.

"Gary, when I first met you, I wasn't sure what to think of you. But, you saved my life time and time again. And, well, I saw the videos. They really opened my eyes to why you acted that way, when you finally found human contact."

"Oh, that's-great?" Gary gave a toothy smile, trying to hide his uncertainty. Videos? What videos? Gary didn't remember sending messages out, besides the occasional encoded one to his father on Earth? Maybe she was trying to trip him up? "So, uh, is that all?"

"No, Gary. When you left-I mean, when you were taken, we spent days looking for you. It gave me time, to think, about what I want. About _who _I want." Quinn scooted closer to Gary. "Do you understand? About who I want?"

Quinn laid a hand on Gary's leg, scooting even closer. The human could feel himself flushing bright red. (_"Gary, get her out of here" _His father moans in the back of his mind). "Uh, yes? No? Too be honest, I'm not sure I follow."

"Gary, in the nicest, most non-offensive way possible, even someone as dull as you should know what this is about." Quinn crawled on top of the blonde, forcing him on his back again, and propping her self up with her upper arms.

"Oh! Okay, okay, wow! Yeah, uh, I think I'm-I'm getting the picture now! Wow, you are so close to my face! Haha!" Gary rambled, his lips and Quinn's mere centimeters away.

Gary begins to sit up, while Quinn is still sitting on the bed. "Look Quinn, I-uh-I'm flattered you like me, but uh, I don't want you to do anything, you know, rash."

"I'm not doing anything rash, Gary. If you don't want to do anything, though, just tell me," Quinn flat out informs Gary, her eyes half-lidded.

Gary could practically hear his dad's disapproval, which wasn't unlikely with his father's powers. With that in mind, he finally closed the gap between the two, giving her a relatively quick peck on the lips, lasting just two seconds.

Gary half expected Quinn to punch him in the balls. Luckily, she returned the kiss after a tense moment, running her hand through his hair as she did. This kiss lasted for about ten seconds, and Quinn looked up expectantly.

The next kiss quickly morphed into a full on make-out, with Gary wrapping his hands around Quinn's upper body to bring them closer. The two tumbled to the floor, grinding their bodies against each other.

As this was happening, Mooncake watched from the doorway, a mixed look of horror and fascination on its face.

* * *

_**Somewhere in the ship...**_

A shadowy figure crawled through the air vents, being careful not to move too loudly. They ducked back when she saw a figure, the Ventrexian, pass by from his son's room. They continued crawling through the vents before finally finding what they were looking for.

Removing the grate, the figure dropped down into the garbage shoot, wincing at the squelch in their boots. They took out a small tablet, which bathed the area in a faint blue light.

"There..." They said, finding the oil covered jacket Gary had used to dispose of KVN. The figure lifted up the jacket, and out tumbled the remains of the robot.

Kneeling down, they fished through the scrapes, until finding the flashdrive. Nodding in satisfaction, they were ready to go when the figure noticed the robot's arm twitch.

**"Oh, **hEY thER **FRIEnd**…ARE you **here **to killlll gARy?" KVN moaned, his eyes nearly completely black.

"Hopefully not. But I think I can keep you from getting killed, if you help me." The figure whispered, pocketing the flashdrive.

**"ooo, **an ADveNTure! I'm **in!**"

The shadowy figure nodded in satisfaction. They gathered the remains of KVN in Gary's jacket, and jumped back through the vent, not bothering to replace it as they went.

* * *

**Dang, was that a chapter to write! Had a heck of a writer's block on this one, but I feel I did good with it. Hope Quinn didn't seem too ooc, and that it wasn't too short. As always, comment if you have any suggestions and have a great day!**


	6. Intruders and the Inevitable

The shadowy figure slunk through the holding bay, holding KVN in their arms. They walked quickly and quietly towards their ship, which was hidden under a tarp. They slide under the stairs of the bay, and moved quickly past a stack of boxes, praying the A.I. was too preoccupied to focus on this part of the ship.

The figure lifted the tarp up, revealing the black exterior lined with red engines. The door was already open, so there was no need to wait. Walking inside, they placed KVN on the ground, next to a set of tools, and sat down at the head of the controls.

"Okay, let's see if we can't reverse engineer this virus.." The figure muttered, entering the flashdrive into their ship. The AI began scanning the virus, with a completion bar on the screen. Meanwhile, the shadowy figure began searching the cabinets of the ship, which was filled with robot parts. Selecting a heart shaped apparatus, the petite figure knelt down to the robot, and opened up a hatch in the back.

KVN, who had been silent up to this point, perked up. "**OOO, **wHAt are YOU putting in **me! **Is this _sex?"_

"Uh, no. This is your new heart, cause yours got damaged earlier. This should help fix most of the damage, though we'll have to fix the cosmetic damage ourselves." The figure replied, plopping the heart in place of the damaged remains. They took a nearby cloth and carefully picked out the smaller shards of metal, and then closing the hatch.

The ship beeped, signifying it was done scanning the flashdrive. "Good, it's ready."

"FLASHDRIVE SCAN COMPLETED. FOUR HOURS UNTIL ANTIVIRUS CODE WILL BE READY."

The figure grunted, "Nevermind, then. Looks like we have time to kill." They typed some numbers into the computer, quickly skimming over the computer's report. Once they did that, they grabbed a can of yellow paint before slamming the door of the cabinet shut.

* * *

Morning came with Quinn and Gary fast asleep on the floor of Gary's room. The blonde laid curled up on his side, his arm draped over Quinn's stomach. Quinn was on her back, one hand sitting under the former prisoner's head and the other laying over Gary's hand.

Quinn began to stir, her eyes fluttering under her eyelids. "mm, what time is it?" Quinn groaned. Her back was sore and her hand felt numb wondering why her back was so sore and why her hand felt so numb. With her eyes still closed, she begins to sit her up, forcing her hand out from under Gary's head.

"Ack, what the frick?!" Gary yelled out, as his head smacked into the ground. This yelling serves to snap Quinn out of her daze and she blinks in surprise.

Gary blinks confusedly as he looks around. "Quinn? What-_oh, right, last night! _Oh, man, this is- ah not how I thought this scene would go, can we start over?"

The young man closed his eyes and posed sexily with his hand propping up his head and his leg in the air. "Morning, hot stuff."

Quinn giggled, both at the voice he used and the seriousness he was saying it with. "Mm, morning."

The former Infinity Guard then gives the blonde a small peck on the lips, and Gary's cheeks grow a very flattering shade of pink.

* * *

When the pair of humans entered the commissary, now fully clothed, Little Cato was already there and eating a bowl of sugary cereal. He still looked half asleep, balancing his head with his hand.

"Hey, Little Avocato!" Gary said, leaning against the table and slapping the young Ventrexian on the back. Little Cato gives the human a sideways look, but says nothing.

"Gar Gar! Chookity Pok!" Mooncake squealed, squishing his face into Gary's as he flies in.

"Morning, Mooncake! So, where's Big Avocato?"

"Dad's just walking around. Making sure everything's alright." Little Cato answered flatly.

"H.U.E., anything come back to you while we were asleep?" Quinn asked, looking up.

"UNFORTUNATELY, MISS AIRGONE, I HAVE NO NEW UPDATES OR DATA UPLOADS."

"Well, that's a stack of crapsacks." Comments Gary, while simultaneously taking out a box from the pantry.

Quinn looks on in interest. "Gary, what are you doing?"

"Making pancakes, baby! Pancakes are like big cookies-they make everything better!" Plopping the mix down, he takes out a bowl and wooden spoon from under the sink. "Little Cato, want some?"

Little Cato shrugs at this. "Just eating my cereal, man."

Before Little Cato can react, Gary slapped the bowl off the table, and the contents slam onto the floor.

"WHI-CHAA!" "DUDE!"

Little Cato glares at the human, arms crossed.

"No one eats a bowl of cereal sadness on my watch! Now watch the master work!"

"Anything I can do for "The Master"?" Quinn asks amusedly, feeding into Gary's antics. Little Cato looks at her questioningly.

"Grab some chocolate chips from BETH! We're going to make chocolate chips pancakes baby!"

"Sounds great!" Quinn declared, standing up and getting to work.

Little Cato rolls his eyes, picking up his ceramic bowl and spoon from the ground. "Great, just what we needed."

"Pok pok." "I know, right?"

* * *

The shadowy figure sat criss-crossed on the ground, gently painting over the metal of the robot.

"There. That should-well, it's the best I can do on short notice."

KVN gasped, admiring himself in the metal reflection of the ship. "It's perfect!"

"ANTIVIRUS CODE COMPLETE!"

"Finally!" The shadowy figure announced, standing up with a flourish.

"What the hell...? What is this ship doing here?" A deep voice rips through the air-Avocato's voice.

"Uh-oh, you're in trouble!" KVN announced in a singsong voice, while the figure snatches up the flashdrive the computer spat out. Pressing a hidden button along the wall, the figure's bed and shelves slide into the wall as if they weren't there."

The figure then opened a hatch in the ship's floor, just below the chair. "KVN, hurry!" "You're the boss, boss!"

The round robot floated down, with the figure dropping down quietly as well. Crouching, they replaced the flooring just as Avocato opened up the tarp.

"H.U.E., where's the rest of the crew?" Avocato asks, drawing his weapon.

"They are in the commissary, at the moment." "Go call them, there may be someone else on board." "Understood."

* * *

"MR. GOODSPEED, MS. AIRGONE. THERE IS A SITUATION IN THE HOLDING BAY THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED."

Gary moaned, having just finished cooking the first stack. "Aww, but pancakes!"

"We can finish the pancakes later. . We should make sure everything's alright." Quinn assured Gary, turning off the burner and then squeezing Gary's shoulder.

"Okay, then. Come on, Mooncake."

"Chookity Pok!" Mooncake follows Gary, but not before scarfing down the entire stack of pancakes made in one bite. The green blob hums in satisfaction, then flies out of the kitchen.

* * *

A few minutes later, the two humans, the teenage Ventrexian, and the green blob have reached the Holding Bay, where Avocato had pulled the tarp from the ship. Checking the underbelly of the spacecraft, Quinn finds that there is nothing hidden under it.

"Man, this spaceship just screams 'bad guy,' am I right?" Gary commented, spinning around.

The group walked (or in Mooncake's case, fly) into the ship, with Quinn and Avocato's weapons drawn. The layout of the ship is simple, being nearly spotless with the exception of a set of tools on the ground and a leather jacket beside it.

"Whoa, my jacket?" Gary picked up the jacket with two fingers. It still drips with oil.

"Yeah, I think you should stick to the sweater look." Little Cato commented with crossed arms.

Avocato ran his hand against the wall, in a way that seems like he's looking for something. Meanwhile, Quinn holsters her weapon and sits herself at the helm of the ship.

"This ship's controls-it isn't like anything I've seen. It looks...custom-made. There's a dial for different dates, and a pad that says "Space Location?"

Quinn pulled up the contents of the ship's computers, and her eyes widen in shock. "Oh my god, you guys need to look at this."

Gary and the Catos gather around the screen, and find the screen filled with hundreds of photos of _them. _Of the Galaxy One crew. They weren't just the two humans and Ventrexians; there was Mooncake, KVN, the SAMES. Some were taken on the Galaxy One, and others were taken on different planets. A lot were of just Quinn and Gary, walking together, talking, and there was a great shot of when Gary and Quinn had been 'ziplining' off that planet with the corrupt Infinity Guard. Another particular picture had Gary and Avocato, clearly on Tera Con Prime, entering Clarence's shop.

"ooohhh" Mooncake hums, eyes wide.

"Look at all these pictures. They've been following us for weeks." Quinn commented as she scanned over each image.

"Well, this guy definitely has some experience with photography. I mean, these pictures are great quality, they're beautifully taken; not that you don't always look good Quinn." Gary added, leaning next to Quinn towards the end. The former Infinity Guard shoves him playfully, a smile materializing on her face. Avocato raised a brow at this.

"Wait a second, look at that!" Little Cato suddenly pointed at the screen, at one photo of him sitting alone.

"What are we looking at exactly?" Quinn asked, analyzing the image. It seemed to be taken from a low angle, and blocked off by bars.

"That photo-that photo is from when I was stuck in the Lord Commander's prison. He had tricked me into thinking he was some girl wanting to help me escape so I could play the bait in his stupid trap."

Avocato frowned, "How'd he do that?"

"Uh, he slipped a tablet through the air vent so I could record a message and cleared the way to the radio tower. Whoever's piloting this ship has to be working for the Lord Commander."

"Yeah, makes sense. Hack into H.U.E., shut him down, and sneak in. If that was the case, though, why bring their entire ship in? It only brings them unwanted attention, on top of the fact that cameras are watching every inch of the Galaxy One." Quinn questioned, swiveling the chair around.

"There's no cameras in the air vents. Could be hiding in there."

"How do you know that?" Gary asked with a head tilt.

"Does ANYONE put cameras in the air vents? Plus, I explored the vents a bit when I first got here. I could easily get through the vents again"

"LITTLE CATO IS CORRECT. THOUGH I DO HAVE THE BLUEPRINTS OF THE AIR VENTILATION SYSTEM ON FILE, I DO NOT HAVE CAMERAS SET UP IN THE AIR VENTS."

Avocato smiled, ruffling his son's hair. "Good thinking, son."

"I don't think letting a child go face a potentially deadly intruder is the greatest idea Avo." Quinn said sarcastically, though she also hands Little Cato her laser pistol. "Gary, think you can go with Little Cato while Avocato, Mooncake, and I keep digging for this guy's identity?"

"No prob, bob!" Gary says, pointing a finger gun at her and making a firing sound. "Come on Little Cato, let's do this thang!"

* * *

Little Cato and Gary walked back into the kitchen, and Little Cato takes out a small screwdriver set and uses one of them to begin and unscrew the vent cover. The vent cover falls flat, and Little Cato jumps back.

"Already loose; they've been here." Little Cato tucks the screwdrivers back into his pouch and ensures the laser pistol is firmly holstered on his pants leg. The Ventrexian turns to the human. "You stay here, I'll call you if I need anything."

"Last I Checked bud, your dad wanted me to be your backup."

"I managed to escape the Lord Commander's prison, I think I can handle this." Little Cato states boisterously. Gary decided not to remind the boy that escape was part of the Lord Commander's plan. "Sides, you're too fat to fit anyway."

Gary gasp dramatically as Little Cato just hops up the fridge and crawls away. "Rude." Gary grabbed two cookies from the display and fell into a nearby chair. He takes a bite from one and wrinkles his nose. "Ugh, these cookies are stale. Waited years for these sweets of suckiness?"

The human lays the cookies on the table, and rubs at his arm stump under the knotted sleeve of his sweater. "ugh, I really need another robot arm. Maybe dad will get me a better one."

The plan he and his father made wasn't changed, even with what happened with Quinn last night and with this weirdo lurking around the ship. Gary just needed to present the illusion of being normal, of being their "dumb, friendly Gary" and wait for the right moment. Avocato and Quinn were tough cookies (pun intended), and Little Cato seemed just as sharp as his father. The human couldn't just forget what they did to him, even if his father was acting like an evil crapsack.

The more he thought about it, the more angry he felt. How could he have been so stupid?

And now they had Little Cato involved. The human didn't want to believe Little Cato knew anything, even if the kid was a little pooper. He was a kid, and he did seem nice enough.

Gary winced as he rubbed at his stump ĭ̢̜͝t͙́ b̞͚̳̗̳̅͒̅̅̚ụ̩̪̇͆͑́͜ṙ̻n͕̰̳̏͝͡s͚͈̭̦̈́̈̄͒ , still able to feel some of the bone underneath even under the bandages. He could remember how T͙́H̫̜̓̂E͎̫̻͕͒͒̑̃̊͟ L͈̯̾̀Ó͎̥͡Ṙ̻D͇̹͎͖́͐̀͠ C̖̩̮̔̾͐́ͅÓ͎̥͡M̬̟̑͗M̬̟̑͗Á̘͉̉N͕̰̳̏͝͡D͇̹͎͖́͐̀͠E͎̫̻͕͒͒̑̃̊͟Ṙ̻ Ṙ̻Ĭ̢̜͝P̠͖̠̈́͋P̠͖̠̈́͋E͎̫̻͕͒͒̑̃̊͟D͇̹͎͖́͐̀͠ H̫̜̓̂Ĭ̢̜͝S͚͈̭̦̈́̈̄͒ Á̘͉̉Ṙ̻M̬̟̑͗ Ó͎̥͡F̝͓͇̰̋͋̂͝F̝͓͇̰̋͋̂͝ How Avocato had shot it so badly it had to be amputated. Quinn held him down, robotic in her actions while Avocato had taken a laser to the mutilated limb. Á̘͉̉V̨̖̪͔̋̌̋̈́Ó͎̥͡C̖̩̮̔̾͐́ͅÁ̘͉̉T͙́Ó͎̥͡ S͚͈̭̦̈́̈̄͒Á̘͉̉V̨̖̪͔̋̌̋̈́E͎̫̻͕͒͒̑̃̊͟D͇̹͎͖́͐̀͠ Ý̗̙̝̫̱͐̄̚͞Ó͎̥͡Ụ̩̪̇͆͑́͜.

The human held his breath. He knew that memory was real. Even now, it still felt like a dream. He couldn't believe that the girl he kissed earlier, and the guy he thought was his best friend, would do this.

But they had to have. If they weren't the cause, that meant that his father did it, and his father wouldn't have done that, would he?

* * *

Back in the holding bay, Quinn was still typing on the computer, trying to find the owner of the spacecraft. Meanwhile, Avocato traced his hand along the wall.

"Why are you doing that, Avo?" Quinn asked, turning her head ever so slightly to the cat man.

"Third rule of being a bounty hunter, always look for hidden switches if a target has disappeared."

Quinn just blinks at this, continuing to type as the corners of her mouth curl up. "Heh, and what are the first and second rules?"

"Always have more than one exit and never fall in love, obviously." "Obviously."

Trying to get a reaction of the human, Avocato asks teasingly, "So, you and Gary, are you-"

"Yep." The human answered bluntly, something the Ventrexian didn't expect. Avocato's ears briefly flattened against the side of his head and he felt his heart tightening.

At this moment had found a hidden button along the wall. When he pressed it, a bed slide out of the wall, along with a shelf of foodstuffs and other items.

"Alright, looks like we got something baby." Lining the shelves was a variety of unhealthy foods (potato chips, cookies, soda). On the second shelf was a first aid kit, a speaker, and box of what looked to be feminine products, if the image of a tampon was any indication. The intruder was likely a woman, then.

Avocato's eye caught a photo, framed with silver metal. He lifts it off the shelf, bringing it closer. The Ventrexian feels him nearly jerk away as he fully absorbs the photo's contents.

"Quinn, I got something."

"What's wrong, Avocato?" Quinn asked innocently, seeing the frame in his hand.

"This photo, it's of us!" "And what makes it different from the hundreds of others on here, Avocato?"

Quinn strolled over to the Ventrexian as she says this. Avocato just answered with, "See for yourself."

Taking the photo in her hands, Quinn moved it close to herself, and she scowled. As Avocato said, it was picture of Quinn and Avocato-and Gary too.

From the background, they appeared to be on Earth, just in front of a bar. Quinn is on the far left and Avocato on the far right, with a grinning Gary in the center. Gary has his arms draped over the two, with Quinn in mid laugh and Avocato rolling his eyes in an amused way. In the photo, Quinn wore her Infinity Guard uniform, but what was really odd was that Gary wore a brown Infinity Guard ensemble, worn by pilots, while Avocato had the blue trappings of the military organization.

Like Avocato, Quinn is shocked by this picture. She furrowed her brows, griping the frame tightly.

"What? Why-How is this here? I know I never met you before the Galaxy One, and Gary was definitely not a member of the Infinity Guard!"

"Quinn, didn't you say something about the controls on this ship looking custom made?" "What are you implying, Avocato?"

"This guy could be a time traveler."

Quinn balked at this suggestion, dropping the photograph on the bed. "Seriously? I know we've seen some crazy things together, but time travel? The technological leaps needed would require decades if not centuries!"

"Have a better explanation? I'd love to hear it."

"Well, okay. How can you be so sure this is time travel?" Quinn retorted with crossed arms. Avocato pauses, mind flashing to a moment from three years ago.

The Ventrexian responded, "I've had some experience with them." His eyes did not meet Quinn as he said this.

"...Okay, then. I'll admit, given the evidence, time travel is a possibility." Quinn says, glancing back at the picture then looks back at Avocato. "But we don't have time for possibilities. We have to have hard facts."

"Yeah, good point. Hopefully Gary and Little Cato had better luck than us." Avocato added.

* * *

**Tera Con Prime**

The Lord Commander sat on his throne, reading through the criminal cases brought to him to decide their punishments. He scrolled through the list casually, as if he was just flipping the channels.

"Kill, Kill, Don't Kill." The Lord Commander perks up a bit, eyes widening in surprise. "Oh, hey I want to High School with this one!...KILL."

Suddenly, the Greytrexian felt something pull at the back of his mind. It was a small tug, as if someone was pulling at his hand. Focusing on the energy, he realized who it was.

"Gary..." He pressed a few buttons to close the throne room off and then shoved the console away. Taking a deep breath, the Lord Commander drew upon the energy of the human.

The Greytrexian felt himself mentally pulled across the galaxy and into the Galaxy One.

"Gary, what is the matter? Have you been uncovered?" The Lord Commander asked, floating next to his "son."

Gary shook his head, as he walked through the hallway of the Galaxy One. He managed to keep a neutral appearance on his face, surprising due to his sensitive nature. "No, they don't suspect anything. But I think we need to get a leg on. Someone is on the Galaxy One."

"What?"

"Long story, just send someone to pick me up, I'll-I'll try to figure something out."

The Lord Commander nodded, "I'll look at your coordinates and send the nearest ship you're way. Good luck."

"Wait, dad..." Gary suddenly said, reaching out for the Greytrexian. The Lord Commander paused, watching the human look at him with innocent blue eyes. "I just...I wanted to say that I am so sorry for what happened earlier. And that I called you a buttwad. In case I don't get out of this.

The Lord Commander saw the tears threaten to spill onto the human's cheeks. It was pathetic display of weakness, one that the Lord Commander would have punished in his soldiers. But at this moment, Gary was crying because he didn't want to disappoint the man he thought raised him. The tyrant needed to keep Gary as an asset **(at least, that's what the man told himself).**

"Don't apologize, child. It must be difficult having to face those you thought were friends, but were truly your worst enemies." The Lord Commander comforted the human, flying around so he could pat the human on the shoulder. "And you won't fail, I know you won't."

And like that, the Lord Commander was back in his throne room. He keeled over, his head throbbing from the use of his light. Through clenched teeth, the Lord Commander used his touchscreen to contact his second in command.

"Bhero, send four cruisers to the Galaxy One. My plan is in motion."


	7. Realization and Recruitment

**Galaxy One**

Gary walked into the control rooms, and sat at the helm of the computer. Pulling up the cameras, he could see the Infinity Guard cruisers approaching.

"H.U.E., open the holding bay." Gary commanded. The A.I., which had been corrupted by the flashdrive the Lord Commander had given him, swiftly responded. "**UNDERSTOOD. AVOCATO AND QUINN ARE IN THE ANTIGRAVITY LIFT. SHOULD I DEACTIVATE IT?"**

Gary paused, biting his bottom lip before nodding. "Do it."

**"ALREADY DONE."**

* * *

Avocato and Quinn were floating up the antigravity lift, and had made it up quite a few stories already. They barely took notice to the weight of gravity returning. Then, they stopped moving, floating midair. Then, the lights shut off, knocking them in pitch black. Gravity returned completely, and they began to really fall now.

Quinn let out a quick "What the fu-" As Avocato wrapped his arm around her waist. She could hear a snap and the zip of ropes, and then they were violently swung around. Avocato took most of the damage as they hit a wall, but Quinn definitely felt some whiplash from stopping so suddenly. After a few seconds, the rope stopped swinging, and Avocato and Quinn were hanging about five feet between floors in the antigravity lift. The only lights were from the floor above and below them, but the human could see the Ventrexian was straining to keep a hold on her and the grappling hook he used to stop their fall.

"You okay, Quinn?" Avocato got out, clenching his teeth.

"I'll live." Quinn answered, wrapping her arms around Avocato's neck. She took some deep breaths, looking down at the next floor. "I think I can drop down to that floor below, but I'll need you to kick off the wall. Think you can do that?"

Avocato nods. "I'll try." Swinging his legs, Avocato lands his feet on the wall.

"Okay, one...two...three!" Avocato kicks off the wall, and Quinn jumps off. She holds her breath as she manages to make the jump, falling onto her stomach. The wind is knocked out of her, and she is left coughing on the ground, but she is alright otherwise.

Struggling onto her knees, and then her feet, Quinn continues to hack as she peers out the doorway. She is able to see Avocato just as he climbs up to the above floor, looking relatively unharmed.

"H.U.E., what's-_cough-_what's going on? What happened to the antigravity lift?" Quinn asked, grabbing her side.

"**I'M SORRY, MRS. AIRGONE, BUT YOU ARE GOING TO DIE HERE."**

Quinn swallows the lump in her throat, "Great, looks like H.U.E. is hacked, again. AVOCATO, DO YOU STILL HAVE A WEAPON ON YOU?"

"Always do, honey!" Avocato responded with a reassuring smile, holding up a laser pistol.

"GOOD, I'LL MEET YOU IN THE CONTROL ROOM! TRY TO KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR GARY AND LITTLE CATO!" Quinn yells back, taking out her own weapon.

"Sounds good!" Avocato salutes to Quinn and then runs off. Turning around, Quinn inhales and exhales through her mouth, then begins running through the hallway.

* * *

Little Cato crawled through the air vents, moving quickly due to his small size. He felt the ship rumble, shaking him from side to side. He ignored it: finding this intruder was priority number one.

Finally, he found himself in a large area, with the crawlspace dropping right down into it. Going feet first, Little Cato was pleasantly surprised to find the space was big enough to stand in. He'd definitely have to make a note of this place after the emergency passed.

Looking around, nothing looked out of place. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something moving. He quickly turned out, pointing his laser pistol in that direction.

"Hello? Come out, you bastard!" Little Cato called out, not realizing someone was approaching him from behind. Then.

"LITTLE CATO!" A pair of robot arms wrapped around the boy, and in an instant, he swung the arm around and smashed the robot into the floor, mashing the butt of the gun in the robot's eye.

"...KVN?" Little Cato asked, incredulously. The robot's design had been altered, but it was undoubtedly KVN. The robot was a dull yellow, with an antenna on top of its head. The bottom half of its body was made of plain metal, with a small opening for its mouth.

"HI! Oh my gosh, I have so much to tell you!" KVN excited called out, waving his arms wildly. Little Cato just rolled his eyes, removing his boot from KVN's face.

Then, before he could react, he felt the cold metal of a blade against his neck.

"Hello, Little Cato." The figure whispered, staying out of sight. "Drop the weapon, please."

Looking around desperately, Little Cato tries to find an exit.

"I said, drop it!"

Little Cato finally obeyed, dropping the pistol on the ground. The figure kicks the gun away, as KVN floats up.

"Ooo, what a twist!" KVN said excitedly.

* * *

Mooncake had stayed behind in the ship, just floating around the ship curiously. It looked at the picture on the bed, humming curiously with a head tilt. That was when it heard the Holding Bay open.

He floated out to see what it was, and immediately hide when he say the Infinity Guard symbols on the cruisers.

The green blob looked around desperately, whispering _"chookity, chookity…"_ Finally, it hide in one of the open cabinets, peeking out just slightly.

The Infinity Guards, eleven in total, gathered in the Holding Bay, led by an Infinity Guard wearing a white suit. The Infinity Guard wearing the white suit turns to face his subordinates.

"ALRIGHT, EVERYONE, WE'RE HERE TO LOCATE E351 FOR CAPTURE AND THE HUMAN KNOWN AS GARY GOODSPEED FOR RESCUE. ANYONE SITED MUST BE SHOT ON SIGHT, ON ORDER FROM THE LORD COMMANDER!"

"For the Lord Commander!"

"Chookity?" Mooncake whispered, narrowing its eyes. Rescue? Gary? What were they talking about?

The Infinity Guards floated up in the antigravity shaft, in pairs of two, and quickly disappeared from the bay. Mooncake flied out of the ship, hesitantly but decisively. It began to think, really think: didn't KVN say something about the Lord Commander changing Gary's memories? And immediately afterwards, Gary had destroyed the robot? And Gary had been acting...kind of off when they first rescued him. The creature's eyes widened, as it realized that there had to have been some truth to KVN's warnings.

It had to warn the others.

* * *

Avocato turned yet another corner, trying to find any indication of staircases. He knew the symbol for Earth stairs was a person running down a set of stacked cubes, but he still hadn't found one! God, it was so frustrating; why did the Infinity Guard have to have a ship so big for just one prisoner?!

As if on cue, Gary came running through the hallway, sliding to a halt when he saw Avocato. "Oh, Avo! Dude! Thank gosh I found you!"

"Gary!" Avocato sighed in relief. Gary ran up to the Ventrexian and embraced his abdomen, lifting him into the air. That was something which Avocato was not prepared for. Then, just as it began, it suddenly stopped. Gary pulled and grabbed Avocato's hands, squeezing them tightly.

"Avo, man, me and Little Cato, we-we found the guy!"

"Really? Where's Little Cato?" Avocato asked, a bit alarmed by the added development.

"He's fine, don't worry. We cornered the guy in this room, it's right around the corner! Come on!" Gary pulled on Avocato's arm and the Ventrexian followed. As it turns out, it was more than one corner; Gary ran down a couple of corners, when they finally reached the room. Avocato pushed in front of the human, in order to protect him. His weapon pulled out, the Ventrexian entered the room...

And found nothing.

He began to turn around, only to be throat stabbed by Gary. The Ventrexian blacked out immediately, with Gary preventing him from falling to the ground.

"Don't worry, Avo. I'll come back for you after." Gary told his unconscious friend, his voice eerily calm. Placing Avocato onto his knees, Gary takes out a roll of duct and uses his mouth to pull it out.

* * *

Mooncake flew through the ship, trying to find someone. It had gotten separated from Quinn and Avocato in the panic of the antigravity failing, and had flown back to Little Cato's bedroom to see if it could find the Ventrexian. Now, the creature was zipping through the holiday, searching room to room.

"Chookity?" Nothing.

"Chookity?!" Nothing.

"CHOOKITY!" Still nothing.

It continued to fly until it saw a familiar blur of red and yellow. It ground to a halt, floating just a few feet away from the human. Gary had just finished tying Avocato up, wrapping his hands behind his back with and covering his mouth with duct tape.

"Perfect..." Gary chuckled, crossing his arms.

"Chookity!"

The human jumped up, snapping his body around 180 degrees. "OH! Uh, hey Mooncake! Good to see you're safe!"

Mooncake looked at Avocato, who was still unconscious. "Chookity pok…" Gary noticed this, and nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh, uh, that weirdo ship guy must have tied him up! Quick, let's untie Avocato and get out of here!"

Gary attempted to reassure the green blob with a smile.

Something wasn't right with the human, Mooncake knew that for certain now. It could feel the evil aura emanated from him, one it had only felt in one other person...

"Come on, bud!" Gary moved a few steps towards Mooncake, but the blob jerks back, narrowing its eyes at the human.

"CHOOKITY! Chookity pah!" Mooncake hissed. Gary's features shifted into one of annoyance.

"Come on Mooncake, I don't have time for this." Gary lunges at the creature, who dodges it with ease. The human fell onto his stomach, growling angrily.

"Chookity dookity..." Mooncake said angrily, its eyes burning a bright white energy.

Gary let out an unnatural cackle, pushing himself to his feet. "Ah, so you figured it out, E351."

The voice was no longer Gary's, but a combination of the human's and the Lord Commander's. When the human turns around, Mooncake could see Gary's yes glowing a yellow glint. "So, what **gave it away?"**

In an instant, Mooncake backed away and flew away in a hurry, screaming a high pitched scream. The possessed human took out his pistol and began firing.

* * *

Quinn ran up the stairs, installed into the Galaxy One in cases of emergency or power outages.

BANG BANG

She knelt close to the ground at the sound of gunshots, grabbing the railing with one hand and her gun in the other. After a long few seconds, Quinn continued to slowly move up the stairs. She reached the door and opened it just a crack, in case the prowler was up there. No one; however, she could already see the antigravity lift had been reactivated.

"What?" As she was about to step out, she heard the whurrr of something coming up. Staying hidden, she watched as two Infinity Guards dropped onto the floor, weapons drawn.

They walked back to back, and as they went they each pointed a weapon at the door, which was a smart strategy in Quinn's mind.

"HEY! I FOUND SOMETHING!" The female Infinity Guard called to her partner, pointing to one of the doors she had passed. The two quickly entered, and a few seconds later, had dragged out a half-conscious, tied up Avocato.

"Avo, no..." Quinn whispered. What had happened to him? She narrowed her eyes, watching as the male Guard kicked Avocato in the stomach and forced the Ventrexian to his knees. The female guard put the butt of her weapon to the back of his head, while the male guard ripped off the duck tape. Avocato hisses at them.

"WHERE ARE YOUR FRIENDS, TABBY? TELL US, NOW!" The female guard ordered, grabbing a handful of Avocato's fur.

Quinn knew it was now or never. Kicking open the door, which definitely drew the Infinity Guards' attention. She raised her weapon-

But didn't get the chance to fire it, when an orange shape dropped from the vents above and onto the male Infinity Guard. It stabbed the neck of the man, and blood poured out. As the female guard looked on in shock, Avocato took the opportunity to stand up and kick her in the abdomen, knocking her down. This allows the orange blur to slash her throat, leading to yet another blood explosion.

Quinn smiled and lowered her weapon, relieved to see Little Cato, even if he just created a bloodbath.

"Son!" Avocato exclaimed, while Little Cato cut the bindings on his arms. After this, Avocato nd Little Cato quickly hugged before the older Ventrexian stood up. "So, are these the only ones?"

Little Cato shook his hand, the metal dagger still in hand. "No, there were eleven Infinity Guards. Don't worry, we already took down six others, and together-"

"Wait. We?" Quinn asked with a perplexed look, when KVN another figure dropped from the rafters. The petite figure stood straight, standing a bit shorter than Quinn, and removed their hood. The woman looked to be a teenage girl, with light skin, blue eyes and light blonde hair. Her hair was in a side shave, the rest just reaching above her shoulder. She wore a faded blue, patched up tunic, grey leggings, leather gloves and a torn black cape that lay across her shoulders. Little Cato hands her the dagger, and she places it slowly back in its strap.

"HI!" The blonde greeted, a toothy smile on her face. She quickly shakes Quinn's hand with great force, using both hands. Then, she does the same to Avocato "I'm Luna, glad to meet you both!"

It took a moment or two for Quinn to process who this Luna was. "You. You're the pilot of the ship in the holding bay!"

"Guilty!" Luna said in a singsong voice, raising her hand. In seconds, Avocato and Quinn are pointing their weapons at her face, and Luna's eyes widen in shock. "Oh, boy!"

"No, no guys! It's fine, she's cool!" Little Cato defended the blonde teenage, getting in-between his dad and Luna.

Looking his son in the eyes, Avocato asked, "How can you be so sure?"

"Because she's the girl who helped me escape!"

"What?!" Avocato and Quinn said simultaneously, twin looks of confusion on their faces. Little Cato stood his ground, spreading his arms out, and eventually Avocato and then Quinn holster their weapons.

Avocato shook his head, his brows furrowed. "I don't understand, didn't you say that the Lord Commander was just pretending to be that mystery girl so he could set up that trap?"

"Eh, kinda!" Luna shrugged. "He intercepted my messages and was able to hijack the last message I sent. My bad!"

"But why help Little Cato escape? You don't even know him!" Quinn asked. At this, Luna just shrugged.

"Why does anyone fight against the Lord Commander? Because he's a huge green dickwad, that's why. I figured if releasing Little Cato could cause even a slight inconvenience..." Luna trailed off, giving the group a knowing smirk.

"She's SOOOOO cool!" KVN gushed, wrapping his robotic arms around her, and Luna only responds with a scowl and crossed arms. "Oh, she helped rebuilt me too, so I'm back!"

"Yes, how wonderful." Little Cato said in the most monotone voice possible.

"Look, we can talk about me later, right now we have to stop Gary Goodspeed and rescue Mooncake!" Luna exclaimed, lifting up her daggers.

"Wait, what? What's wrong with Gary?" Quinn asked, once again eying the blonde with suspicion.

The orange haired Ventrexian stepped in. "Oh, nothing, except the fact that he's being mind controlled by the Lord Commander!" Little Cato exclaimed, arms flapping around dramatically.

"Mind controlled?!" Quinn asked, now even more worried. "Thar's impossible!"

"Actually, I think they might be telling the truth, considering Gary knocked me out and tied me up." Avocato commented.

"He did what?!" Quinn and Little Cato cried out.

* * *

"CHOOKITY! CHOOKITY!" Mooncake yelled out, narrowly avoiding the laser from Gary's pistol, which melts the metal door besides it. It continued to fly off, closely followed by Gary-Commander. The possessed human continued to shoot at the creature even as he ran, trying to incapacitate it.

**"COME ON, E351! You can run, but you can't hide!" **Gary-Commander said, cackling.

Mooncake panted, glancing back quickly as it flew. Suddenly, it screeched to a halt, finding itself at the top of the ship, in the control room. It was trapped.

Gary-Commander cackled, throwing away his pistol. **"End of the line, buddy..."**

The green blob looked around wildly, floating back closer to the wall, when it finally found his opportunity. Smirking, it waited until Gary-Commander got close enough to lunge at it, then quickly dodged it.

Gary-Commander stumbled, turning around in time to see the door closing behind him. Mooncake had tricked the possessed human into an escape pod, and had headbutted the button to it when Gary-Commander fell in. He pounded against the door, as he could see a sad looking Mooncake through the window.

Then, the escape pod fell away, flying off from the Galaxy One and into Inner Space.

"Gar gar..." Mooncake sighed whistfully, feeling guilty for what it did, but knowing it had to do it.

"FREEZE E351!" Snapping around, Mooncake gasped as he found himself surrounded by three Infinity Guards and their guns.

"Oh, pok pok…" Mooncake muttered.

Luckily for the creature, the three Infinity Guards were quickly dispatched by three successive shots to the head, fired off by Avocato. Mooncake closed its eye to keep the blood splatter out, and when it opened its eyes he saw the Catos, Quinn, KVN, and a human female he had never seen before.

"Mooncake, you're safe!" Quinn exclaimed, a sad look on her face. "Where's Gary, did he try to hurt you?"

"Chookity!" Mooncake shook its head, then looked where the escape pod was. "Chookity dookity!"

"Okay, does anyone know what the freak he just said?" Luna asked.

"I think he said that Gary isn't on the ship anymore." Little Cato answered, looking up at the older teenager.

"Oh! That's awesome! We won, baby!" Luna yelled excitedly, being the only one smiling in the room.

"Yeah, awesome..." Quinn half heartedly agreed, walking over to the window and watching the escape pod fly off. Avocato slides next to her, and the two let out a simultaneous sigh.

**"AHHHHHH **QUINN, AVOCATO! IS EVERYONE OKAY?!"

Quinn looked up, the corners of her mouth turning up. "H.U.E.! You're-you're back!"

"I NEVER LEFT. MICROSECONDS BEFORE THE LORD COMMANDER'S VIRUS TOOK OVER THE SHIP, I WAS ABLE TO HIDE MYSELF BEHIND A CODE WALL. I APOLOGIZE FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO HELP SOONER."

"You don't need to apologize, H.U.E. None of us could have know Gary would do this." Quinn answered, leaning against the control board.

"KVN knew! KVN knew and he told Little Cato about it!" KVN exclaimed, flapping his arms around. "Oh, hey, H.U.E., have you met my new best friend!"

* * *

When Gary came to, he found himself not on the Galaxy One, but in a cramped escape pod. He muttered, "What the crap? How'd I get on here?"

He racked his brain, trying to remember what had happened. One moment he was in the control room, the next...

"Crap, the others must have figured out. Crap, crap..." Gary cursed, trying to make room for his feet as he shoves it in front of them.

From the controls, none of which looked familiar to the human. Suddenly, the radio speaker shrieked to life.

"Gary! Are you there?" A nasally voice called out

"Dad? Dad, what in the ever loving hell happened? Did we get Mooncake?" Gary asked, his mind racing. Was Avocato okay? Was Quinn okay? _'Not because I care anymore, of course!' _Gary thought to himself.

"Don't worry about that now, son. I've sent the Heavy Incinerator to your location. We'll manage to capture E351 eventually. Just a matter of time..."


	8. The Office

**Tera Con Prime **

When Gary stepped out of the exit pod, the human was greeted by his father's second in command Bhero. Gary gave a polite smile, but tried not to stare at the gross, bulking cyborg. He really didn't like the cyborg, and he could tell Bhero did not like him.

Gary followed the cyborg down the runway, and the human could tell the Lord Commander soldiers were staring at him. He just ignored it- they knew they couldn't touch him. At the base of the stairs was his father, the Lord Commander.

"Gary..." The Lord Commander said quietly, mouth quirking into a small smile. He gestured for Gary to follow him up the stairs, and the human did so. As the two walked up, the Lord Commander continued, "How are you? I hope the ride here was not too bumpy."

"It's fine, dad. Really. I still can't believe that we failed. That I failed."

"We will find another way, I promise you." The Greytrexian said calmly, decisively, with a neutral expression. Gary knew this was supposed to be reassuring, but the tyrant couldn't display emotion in front of his soldiers. "Now, I have already had a room set up for the night. You get some rest and we will talk in the morning."

A servant of the Lord Commander came up to the pair, bowing respectfully.

Gary nods, having a hard time shaking off his feeling of unease. At all of this. This was why he never visited. "Thanks. See you in the morning, then." The human looked like he wanted to hug the Greytrexian, kneeling down slightly, but decides against it. The human follows the servant, who leads him deep into the palace.

The Lord Commander felt himself smile as Gary left, one that was non malicious.

_**"Oh my...what do we have here?" **_A voice echoed through the Lord Commander's head, and the Greytrexian winced in pain.

_"Invictus, master..." _The Lord Commander thought in greetings, recognizing the presence in his head. The voice, something that sounded like a mix between a woman and some animal, cackled.

_**"Hello Lord Commander. Apologies for the wait, I have had some...distractions as of late. My, this is certainly an interesting development." **_Invictus said. It then added, _**"That is, I am not saying it is bad. Brainwashing your enemy to attack his friends-an inspired move. It is a welcome change from the boringness of death and chaos."**_

_"Thank you, my lord..."_ The Lord Commander responded internally, careful not to upset the titan.

_**"Keep up the good works. Needless to say, I will hold a close eye on these events. Farewell for now..."**_

* * *

**Galaxy One**

Avocato and Quinn heaved the last of the corpses into the incinerator, throwing it in with a heave. They had already taken the care of removing their armor and weapons, as well as making sure they were actually dead.

"And, that's the last of em." Avocato declared, rubbing the excessive blood onto his sweater.

"Hopefully. Thank god this ship has a washing machine." Quinn added, her uniform blotched with red from the bodies. She pushes the button, activating the incinerator. The two leave the room as KVN approaches the incinerator, watching as the bodies burnt up.

"Yess, burnnnn...burnnnn…" KVN said maniacally, an evil gleam in his eyes.

"KVN!" Quinn called out, and the robot turned to her happily.

"Coming, Quinn!" And zips off.

* * *

Quinn managed to peel off her uniform, throwing it into the hamper. She began to change into a blue sweatshirt and black shorts, mind going back to yesterday. How could she have missed it? Gary hadn't shown any signs of doing what he did yesterday.

That was because the Lord Commander knew what they'd look for, she thought to herself. The Lord Commander knew they'd be expecting to rescue him, and so gave the crew what they wanted.

Quinn should have noticed, paid attention, but she was blinded by emotion. By a sudden feeling of desire and relief and fear. Anyone else would have seen the connection between Gary returning and H.U.E. suddenly being deactivated.

And now Gary was being manipulated by the Lord Commander, a combination of a serum and the Greytrexian's powers according to Luna. The teenager had explained briefly what she knew, and that based on the manipulation of his memories Gary might be long gone. And yet...

She had kissed him. He had kissed her. She knew that had to have been real. Had to have been Gary.

Quinn wasn't going to give up on Gary. Not yet.

* * *

Luna and Little Cato sat cross legged on the commissary floor. They were unloading the Infinity Guards' pistols and loading the ammunition into small boxes to be used later. Luna had removed her cap and gloves, laying them on the ground beside her. Mooncake sat on top of this pile, watching Little Cato intensely.

"Sooo, Luna...why'd your parents name you that? Did they just really like the moon?" Little Cato, trying to break the ice.

"Actually, I was named after the Luna Moth." Luna answered. After glancing up and seeing Little Cato's blank expression, she explained further, "It's an Earth insect. My dad really liked insects, and the Luna Moth had always been his favorite. So my mom thought it'd be a good way to honor him."

Now that was interesting. Little Cato decided to push the topic. "Honor him? Is he-"

"Dead? Yeah. Died before I even popped out from my mom's V." Luna answered, eyes not leaving her work. Her hands seemed to shake slightly, whether from emotion or tiredness Little Cato wasn't sure.

"Woof. Sorry about that. How'd he die?"

"Thanks. No need to be sorry, I barely even knew him. And lastly, he died trying to save my mom. He was in the Infinity Guard, one of the few good ones."

"What was his name?"

At this question, Luna grew quiet. She opened her mouth, then closed it. It looked like she wanted to tell the young Ventrexian, but was afraid of what would happen. Finally, she began, "Actually, it's-"

Just before Luna finished Quinn entered the commissary, with Avocato just behind her. Avocato wore nothing but a pair of dark green sweatpants, and Quinn felt her cheeks burn up as she saw the tuft of white on the center of his chest. It was a small detail, but it was adorable.

"Hey, Quinn! Glad ya could join us girl!" Luna called out. Her focus was now on the other human, who she stood up to greet.

The former Infinity Guard just nodded, her mouth set in a pout. "H.U.E., have you determined the trajectory of Gary's escape pod?"

"ALL INFINITY GUARD SHIPS SET THEIR ESCAPE PODS TO AUTOMATICALLY LAND ON THE NEAREST SCARLET LANCE SETTLEMENT, WHICH WOULD BE GOLLANTA. HOWEVER, IT IS HIGHLY LIKELY THE LORD COMMANDER HAS ALREADY INTERCEPTED THE ESCAPE POD."

"So he's probably back on Tera Con Prime." Avocato finished, crossing his arms.

"What about the breach? What is the status on that?" Quinn asked, still looking up.

"THE BREACH TO FINAL SPACE IS STILL MAINTAINING A NEGLIGIBLE RATE OF GROWTH."

"What? That can't be right. That's never happened before." Luna states, now visibly alarmed by this development. Avocato blinks, then remembers when Quinn and Avocato were investigating the ship. The strange controls, the picture of the three of them...

"Right, I keep forgetting you're some sort of dimension hopping time traveler." Avocato comments, not at all perturbed.

"Oh, you figured out. Yeah, I am. And before you get mad, I didn't steal the time machine- the guy who used it just got murdered in front of me."

"How reassuring." Quinn says with a monotone voice. "If you know about Final Space, then you must have met us a couple of times before, right?"

"Uh, kind of. I mean, I met you guys a couple of times in passing in a few timelines. Of course, the history of each kind of differs, but most followed the baseline of Gary being a prisoner, you a bounty hunter, and Quinn here the Infinity Guard. I wouldn't really have time to stay and set up a real "ride or die friendship" anyway."

"Because the breach opened up and swallowed the universe?" Quinn asked point blank to the blonde. Luna's face flashed to one of surprise, then regret, then sad nostalgia, as she nods. Quinn pats the teenager on the shoulder, giving Luna a small smile. "Well, thanks for being honest with us. Really."

"Wait, if this is a time machine, why don't we just go back in time and make sure none of this even happens?" Little Cato asks, standing up.

"Not how it works, guy!" Luna puts her hands on her hips and looks down to the young Ventrexian, playfully ruffling his hair. "See, if I time travel into the past for this universe, it would create a new timeline that would either diverge from the original or create an unstable time loop. So, the only thing I could really do is travel to different past timelines." Luna explains, shrugging. "Sorry."

"So this type of situation never happened before?" Quinn asked, as Mooncake rose up with a yawn. Quinn rubbed the top of the green blob's head as Luna shook her own head.

"Nopers! I've seen timelines where the Lord Commander murders Gary, where Gary disappears into the breach, where Gary dies protecting Little Cato from a sticky bomb. Hell, I entered one universe where everyone became a sort of Cronenberg monster thing due to the breach opening up and now I have a mini boob right on my-" Luna begins to pull down her shirt, but Avocato stops her.

"LUNA!"

"Sorry, getting off topic." Luna smiled awkwardly, pulling her shirt back up.

"So, you have no information that can help us." Quinn summarizes, sighing disappointedly.

Little Cato's eyes suddenly widens as an idea passes through his mind. "Wait, I think I might know someone who could help us!"

The rest of the crew stare at the young Ventrexian in surprise.

"Really?" "Really?" 'Why?!" "Chookity?"

* * *

**Tera Con Prime**

Gary lay in his new bed, twisting and turning. It was comfortable bed, the most comfortable he's been in a while actually. But he just couldn't force himself to sleep. His face contorted into a scowl as he pushed himself up. Through the dark, he could still see his new prosthetic arm. It had been in his room when Gary arrived, which was a very nice touch. It was less conspicuous than his first metal arm; it had easily attached to the stump, and when it connected the prosthetic had shifted to match Gary's skin tone. Had to be some cloaking device.

Still, it would take some getting used to, like it did the first time. The prosthetic scraped against the edge of his skin, and Gary felt himself strain trying to control it.

He curled and uncurled the metal fingers, taking a deep breath. "Man, get it together Gary. This is good, great even! You finally got away from those traitorous douchebaggettes and you're back with your dad!" Gary flopped back into bed, arms across his chest. "Then why do I feel so empty?"

* * *

Gary was walking down the hallway, wearing a plain white bathrobe. He ran his hand along the black and red walls, trying to clear his mind. He found himself standing near a balcony, a strong wind having blown the doors open. He peers outside, and sees that it oversees the Lord Commander's throne room.

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Ȉ̷̛̛̠̰͉̏͆̔̇̌̆̾͐͠ ̷̧̡̖̞̹͓͑̿̽̋ä̵̧̩̯͔͔̙́̅̊̈̉̀̂̎̇̆̅̕ḿ̵̢̪̑̈́̾͌̀̓̃̈́̕ͅ ̸̧̙̙͇̜̹̫̬͚͂̑̌̊̊̇́͂̄͆̀̚̕͜͝͠ͅͅg̸̠͖͇̮͇̭̪͆̔̂ö̸̞͔̪̭̝̱̦́̏̓̾͑̆̈́̎̄̊̚̕ỉ̶̡̟͚̟̙͚̻͔͍͇̗̩̆̿̽̀̑̿̈́̍͠ͅn̷̦͚̦̩͔̺̱̪̪͔͈̥̙̥̜̅̉̂͋̍͆̆̾͘ĝ̸̢̦̞̥̪̬͙̀̑̋͋̇̑͘͘͝ͅ ̴̛̭͛́̒̂͑͊̈̓̀̈́̽̚t̵̯̤̦͖͓̩̥̖̙̗͙̳̹̭̀͌̓͆͜͠͝o̴̺̅̑͋́̊͒͒̀̇̿̊̍̔͝͝ ̸̡̹̖͉͍̻̜͎̰̼͔͐͒̉m̴̡̧̰͔̬̻̏̔̽̈́̽̍̿̉̒̒͐̒͜͝͝u̷͎̠̦̦͔̭͒͌̂̌̉̿̿̕͝ŗ̵͓̥͕̯̬̯̐͌͐́̓̅̍̄̅̏̃̈̔͘͜͠d̶͓̪̥͇̟̈́̎͊̿̾̒ͅe̷̠̾̂͝͝ŕ̸̠̰̬̹̻͓̠̗̜͆̓̿͝ ̷̛͇̣͓̖̺̮̱̺̼͙̅̆̾̉̀͒̐̇̑͆͆͘͝y̶̧̧̪̣̖̜̖͍̩̙̙̭̯̭͑̾̇̆̓́̓̽̊͘ò̵̢̬̠͔̱̲̥̫̥͔͕͚̗̠̆́̏̾̎̏͗̾̚͘̚ư̵̧̹̻̣̖͋̊̍̄̈́́̋͋̔͐̋͠͝ͅr̴̠̀͊̿̕͠͝ ̸̧̻͎̗̦͖̭̗̞̟͊̽̈́͐͘̕͝f̵̨̛̹̟͓̗̥̜̗̘̰̜͔͆̉̈́̐̓͂͊̎̔̎͒̕͝a̵̢̠̤̺̤͔̥̝̅̓̈͛̈̊͝c̷̼͈̰̥̟̭̫͉̫̠͂̂͌̈́̈̔͑̈́̅̂̇͆͜͝ͅė̴̛̙̥͉̫̺̳̘̲͎̗̪͎͔̔̀̏̑̽̍̈́̈́̾̔̚̕͝ ̵̢̼͝ǒ̵̧̦̜̪̫͚̰̬͙͕̲̀̑̆̔̑̊̏̾̀̅̄̕͝f̸̧̨̙̩̖͈̥͈̘̜̘̼͖̙̏̊̑̒̏͠f̶̢͈̟̘̣̫̳͇̗̻͔̼̹̋̕

Gary winced, clutching his temple. God, another freaking headache. It pounded at the back of his head, making it hard for Gary to think and even see straight. Backing away, he closed the double doors, and continued walking down the hall. As the human walked away he could feel the headache lessen in intensity. Finally, after turning the corner, Gary felt much better, and he sighed in relief.

"Man, definitely need to get checked out by dad's doctors." Gary thought to himself. He looks around, ready to head back to his room. "I have...no idea where my freaking room is."

* * *

**Galaxy One **

Quinn, Luna, and the Catos had made their way to the control room, with Luna scribbling away in a notebook.

"So, who exactly is this Dr. Hypatia?" Quinn asked the orange-haired Ventrexian, sitting herself in the captain's seat.

"Doctor Hypatia Zimura-the only doctor the Lord Butthole allows to look after him. She took care of me when I got pneumonia a year ago, and I overheard her talking about her reseach in quote on quote "mental manipulation." So, if anyone knows anything, it's her." Little Cato explained, leaning against the table.

"You know, it's weird that she's the Lord Commander's doctor, but she lives, like, five planets away from his house. I mean, if I was her, I would just live in the palace, you know?" Luna added, looking up from her scribbling.

"She has more patients than just the Lord Commander, and living next to a power-hungry tyrant isn't great for business. Dr. Hypatia was actually the one who helped deliver Little Cato when he was born." Avocato added, causing Quinn to raise her brows.

"Will she want to help us?" Quinn asked, folding her hands on her lap and crossing one leg over the other.

"Probably not, which is why we're going to break into her clinic and find the information ourselves." Avocato declares with a smirk.

"Yeah, no one can stop the Catos, right dad?" Little Cato states, hands on his hips.

"Hell yeah, robbery! Let's do it! Woooh!" Luna stands up and claps excitedly. Quinn and the Catos just give her a blank stare, with Avocato sharing a nod with Quinn.

"Yeah, we need to talk about that..." Avocato begins.

* * *

Little Cato pouts with crossed arms as he watches Quinn, his father, and Mooncake leave the ship.

"I can't believe my dad made me stay behind on the ship. Even Mooncake got to go!" Little Cato complains, making his way over to KVN and Luna in the booth.

"LITTLE CATO, YOUR FATHER IS MERELY CONCERNED FOR YOUR SAFETY. HE WANTS TO ENSURE THE LORD COMMANDER DOES NOT CAPTURE YOU AGAIN."

"Hey, I can handle myself man! I'm not some stupid kid, you know!" Little Cato fires back, pointing to himself as he speaks.

"KVN don't care, as long as he has his cooookkkiiees!" KVN declares, smashing cookies into his face.

"Come on, Luna, aren't you mad that they left us behind?" Little Cato asked the teenager, who just shrugs innocently.

Luna answered, "I'm new here, so I really don't want to make a bad impression. Sorry."

Little Cato groans, curling up into a ball with his arms crossed. The teenager looks at him sympathetically, and leans across the booth to pat him on the shoulder. "Hey, bud, chin up! Your dad doesn't think you're stupid or nothing, he just wants to protect you. I mean, you're a kid, you should have some time to not worry about this crap. So come on, let's play cards and try not to worry about it, kay?"

"...Fine." Little Cato answers, not looking Luna in the eyes, still not fully convinced. Luna frowns slightly, a little disappointed.

"COOOOKKKKIIIIIIEEEEES!" KVN cries out, twirling around excitedly.

* * *

**Gollanta 4 **

"Okay, it should be somewhere on this street. " Avocato tells Quinn and Mooncake, the group hiding in a side alley. The Ventrexian turns to the green blob. "Mooncake, think you can give us an aerial look?"

"Chook chook!" Mooncake nodded happily, then flies far up in the sky. It made it up a couple of dozen feet, trying to hide underneath the billboards and the fog. It looked down at the streets below and surveyed each building, trying to find any distinguishing features. Finally, it found a neon red sign, one that held the name "HYPATIA."

Mooncake excitedly flew back to its friends. "Chookity pok! Chookity!" Mooncake gestures its body out, signifying it found the building.

"Great job, Mooncake!" Quinn told the green blob, giving it a supportive smile. She pulled on Avocato's arm, and the two sprinted down the street, led by Mooncake. The three hide behind some trashcans, as two Infinity Guards crossed the streets. Once the guards passed, the group continued to run down until they reached the building, which had a neon red sign titled "DR. HYPATIA MEDICAL CLINIC- ALL ARE WELCOME!"

Glancing around cautiously, Avocato approaches the door and tries the handle. "Left it unlocked. Seems like someone isn't as smart a doctor as they claimed. Come on..."

* * *

The clinic was pitch black when the three entered. Avocato took out two glow sticks, and after a cracking sound a green glow fills the room. He hands one to Quinn, who nods thankfully. The two quietly move across the clinic waiting room, which is an off white color and seems relatively clean. Quinn tries to open the office, but the doorknob was stiff.

Mooncake quickly flies through the half wall separating the waiting room from the office. Quinn backs away, waiting a few seconds when an audible _click _is heard. The door creaks open, revealing Mooncake behind it. "Chookity pok!"

"Good job, Mooncake. Keep an eye out, kay?" Avocato tells the green blob, who leans its body briefly against the Ventrexian's face. Mooncake hums, flying back towards the waiting room.

Avocato and Quinn tiptoed through the back area. Unsurprisingly, it is an open, wide area. The back is filled with equipment, and the hallway lined with doors. While Quinn took a look at the names of the different doors, Avocato made his way down the hall, as if he already knows where to go.

"Here we go!" Avocato declares, finding Dr. Hypatia's personal office. The door groans open, revealing a small, minimalist office. There was a metal desk in the corner of the room, with a folding chair pushed into it. However, the other wall was lined with cabinets, each reaching Avocato's height.

"Great, she stuck with paper." Avocato muttered sarcastically, as Quinn joined him.

"Found something?" "Yeah, eight cabinets worth of something."

Quinn's eyes widen when she sees the metal cabinets. "God, how many files are in here?"

"Hundreds, maybe thousands. Makes sense she'd use paper-lessens the chance of hackers taking it." Avocato comments, noticing that the cabinets are sorted by alphabet. What was Gary's last name? Goodspeed!

Finding the G cabinet, Avocato took out a lockpick and got to work.

"So, you've known this woman for a long time?" Quinn asked, now searching the drawers of the desk.

"You could say that. She took care of my son when he was younger, but only because the Lord Commander required me to. I never liked her. She was always so rough and impersonal." Avocato explained. "He had all his generals go to her at least once a year, to ensure they were in perfect health."

_click. _"Gotcha." Avocato said to himself, pulling out the drawer with manila folders packed in.

Quinn walked over to the Ventrexian, and commented "It's amazing that this woman was able to survive so long working personally with the Lord Commander."

Avocato nodded. "Yeah, must have had amazing luck. The Lord Commander went through five cooks in a month because he was paranoid they were poisoning him." Avocato declined to mention how the Lord Commander had force fed them lard until they died from dehydration.

"Found it!" Avocato smiled, finally finding a file named "Goodspeed, G." He pulls it out with some difficulty, and flipped through it to confirm it was the right file. "Alright, let's bounce."

"CHOOKITY!" Mooncake suddenly cried out, alerting his friends.

* * *

Quinn and Avocato run out to find a human-like woman wearing red scrubs and a white doctor's mask has walked in. Her eyes, all three of them, are wide in surprise at seeing the green blob, but upon laying eyes on Quinn, visibly relaxes.

"Ah, you two. I expected you to arrive, but not this soon. Oh, E351! What a pretty test subject!"

"Dr. Hypatia." Avocato growls, voice low and guttural. The good doctor just nodded and chuckled.

"In the flesh..." Dr. Hypatia lowered her mask, revealing a wicked smirk and a mouth filled with oversized, sharp teeth.


	9. Capture and Confession

Dr. Hypatia just smiled wickedly at her 'patients,' looking like a child in a candy store. She knows the group can't use their energy pistols without the risk of alerting nearby guards. She stands in anticipation, waiting for someone to move. Avocato made the first move, rushing at her with an upcut. She swiftly sidesteps it, as well as the three punches afterward.

Quinn goes to help Avocato, grabbing a lamp and throwing it at Dr. Hypatia's head. The doctor catches it just inches form her head, and using it against Avocato. The lamp shatters against the Ventrexian's head, creating a large gash just below his ear. Avocato stumbles back, leaning against a nearby table for support. Quinn Dr. Hypatia, using the butt of her pistol as a weapon.

Dr. Hypatia grabs Quinn's wrist as the human goes to hit her. The doctor twists Quinn's wrist around and throws her into the wall, shattering a nearby picture frame.

"Chookity!" Mooncake lets out a war cry and swoops down, knocking Dr. Hypatia onto her back. It begins bitting at her arm, causing her to clench her teeth in pain.

"Oh, how fun! I haven't fought like this since 1983!" Dr. Hypatia laughed maniacally, just as Avocato had recovered enough to lift her in the air by her coat and slam her into the wall. Smirking, the doctor lifts her wrist and a needle comes flying out. The needle finds itself in the Ventrexian's neck. Avocato rips it out, letting it drop to the ground as he sways, falls to his knees, and passes out.

"Mooncake, get out of here! Get help!" Quinn says, just as Dr. Hypatia hits her with the needle. Mooncake lets out a horrified gasp, watching as its human friend fell to her knees and lost consciousness as well. It floated in place for a second, frozen in shock, until it saw Dr. Hypatia take a threatening step towards it.

Mooncake bolted out a nearby window, which breaks upon impact.

"Ah, my window!" Dr. Hypatia groans, shaking her head. "Eh, no matter. More patients will come." Dr. Hypatia says confidently. She looks down at Quinn and Avocato's unconscious forms. "Oh, we will certainly have fun, pets."

* * *

Little Cato sat in the booth, his legs crossed and a bored out of his mind expression on his features. He watched KVN get tangled in the blankets, spinning around. The game of cards had gotten boring quickly, with Luna losing to the Ventrexian at least four times (which was fun, Little Cato admitted). So, Luna had decided they should set up a pillow fort in the kitchen. So, after H.U.E. had helped the three gather all the blankets and pillows in the ship, Luna had begun the multiple hour journey in constructing the fort with the tables and chairs as the support.

"KVN CAN'T SEE, HE'S BLIND!" KVN cried out dramatically, waving his hands in the air. Little Cato rips the sheet off with an eye roll. "Oh, never mind, I'm better now."

"Little Cato, I still can't believe you've never created a pillow fort with your dad before! It's, like, one of the funnest activities you can do as a kid!" Luna exclaims, as she pulls a pillow into their half completed fort.

"Eh, dad tried to do what he could, but he was always busy as the Lord Commander's second in command. And my mom..." Little Cato trailed off, not sure what to say. "My mom died before I could remember her, so I was mostly on my own."

"Aww, man, looks like we're both apart of the same club. The dead parents we never met club" Luna said solemnly, pausing to look at Little Cato briefly. "Well, no need to worry, bud. I spent entire days building pillow forts with my grandparents, and the key is heavy blankets for the roof and pillows for the flooring."

"LITTLE CATO, LUNA, I HATE TO INTERRUPT, BUT MOONCAKE IS RAPIDLY APPROACHING THE SHIP. HE IS ALONE."

At that last statement, Little Cato's ears perk up. Mooncake wouldn't have left Avocato and Quinn willingly. Something was wrong. The young Ventrexian jumped out of his seat and sprinted off, leaving Luna in the lurch.

"Hey! Wait up, man!" Luna called out, tripping over a pillow as she ran after Little Cato.

* * *

"CHOOKITY! CHOOKITY!" Mooncake cried out, flying through the holding bay in a panic. He was met up Luna and Little Cato, who had just stepped out of the antigravity shaft.

"Mooncake, what's wrong? Where's dad and Quinn?" Little Cato asked as Mooncake zipped around him.

"Chookity pok! Pok pok!" Mooncake explained, using its body movements to explain how the group made it to the building and got attacked by Dr. Hypatia.

Luna scrunched up her nose in confusion. "Uh, do you understand a single thing he just said?"

"I think he's telling us Dr. Hypatia got Quinn and Avocato. We need to go after them!" Little Cato declared, with Mooncake nodding determinedly.

"Uh, that's not a great idea. The city's gonna be crawling with guards, and it'll be pretty hard to hide in the daylight." Luna added helpfully.

"Well, we can't just leave them with her!" Little Cato retorted angrily.

"I'm not saying that, I'm saying that we should wait and find them at nightfall, that way we can be prepared!" Luna explained, her voice rising to combat Little Cato.

"They could be dead by then!"

Luna put a hand on Little Cato's arm. The Ventrexian slaps it away, but the teenager continues, "If this person wanted to kill them, she wouldn't have let Mooncake escape."

"I HAVE TO DISAGREE WITH YOU LUNA. WE CANNOT ABANDON AVOCATO AND QUINN, NO MATTER THE RISK." H.U.E. says, worry present in his voice.

"Thank you H.U.E.!" Little Cato yelled, glaring at Luna.

"HOWEVER, LITTLE CATO, YOUR FATHER WOULD NOT WANT YOU TO RISK YOUR SAFETY TO SAVE HIM."

"H.U.E. YOU TRAITOR!" Little Cato quickly yelled at the ceiling.

"Little dude, come on. We can't risk it!"

Little Cato just continues to glare, looking back at Luna. Then, he stomps off, shoving Luna away. Luna looks on with concern and guilt, before shaking her head.

"He'll be fine, he'll be fine." Luna says to herself, following Little Cato's direction.

* * *

When Quinn begun stirring to consciousness, she smelt a sickeningly sweet smell.

"Mhmm…" Quinn rubbed her neck, feeling a raised area of skin. It was sore to the touch. The area she was in was dark, and she was lying in a puddle on the ground. Quinn forced herself up, with some difficulty. "Avocato? Gary? What's happening?"

She tried to lift her hand up to her head, but something rough at her wrist stopped her.

"What?" She muttered. Quinn tried again, with the same result. lowering her body closer to the ground, she pulled her hand close to her face. A rope bound her hand to the nearby wall. But then she saw it.

Red. Blood.

Glancing behind her, Quinn let out a scream when she saw a burnt body, huddled in a corner and face frozen in horror across from her. She rapidly crawled against the floor and to the wall, eyes wide. She felt herself begin to hyperventilate, but forced herself to take slow deep breaths. _'In, out. in, out.'_

"Come on, come on. Getting scared won't help anyone." Quinn muttered to herself. Her vision clearing, Quinn could see that she was in some basement, the only light coming from a small window in the room. The room was relatively barren, with concrete walls and floors. However, the human could see the walls were lined with instruments of torture. Not a good sign.

Quinn could also see that someone had undressed her, leaving her only in a white undershirt and black shorts. Also a bad sign.

"Ugh, my damn head..."

Quinn's head snapped up, searching the room desperately. "Avocato? Where are you?"

"Qunn, you're here." The human saw that in a shadowy corner of the room, something shifted. It was low to the ground, and sat up slowly. Avocato.

"Avocato! Thank god." Quinn said, voice shaky. The events of just a few hours ago came back to her. "God, I can't believe that fucking psycho actually kidnapped us."

"I can. Anyone who works with the Lord Commander has to be a psychopath." Avocato commented, ignoring the fact that he worked for the Lord Commander as well. Quinn heard rustling, then a groan. "The hell? She tied a rope around my neck."

"Yeah, she tied my arms with ropes too." Quinn responded, tugging at the ropes. "It's bizarre. I mean, ropes are so ineffective."

"Ah, what can I say? I like the old fashioned look." Dr. Hypatia suddenly appeared, holding an artificially powered lantern in one hand.

"YOU!" Avocato yelled out, before pouncing at the doctor. With a smirk, Dr. Hypatia took out a remote and pressed it. The rope around the Ventrexian's neck was suddenly pulled back into the wall. Avocato 's eyes widened, and he clawed at his neck desperately. He felt his oxygen supply is cut off, being forced against the wall.

"Aww, what's wrong? Human got your tongue, kitty?" Dr. Hypatia asks mockingly, watching gleefuly as Avocato struggled against the ropes.

"STOP IT, NOW!" Quinn commanded, face contorting into rage. She strained against the ropes, trying to break free.

"You have no power over me, doll." Dr. Hypatia states, looking Quinn in the eyes. Raising the remote, Hypatia pressed the button.

Avocato gasped violently, the rope around his neck loosening just enough to keep him from feeling like he was suffocating. He slide down the wall, hands still around his neck. When he finally regains his breath, he gives Dr. Hypatia a murderous glare.

"You psycho bitch! You're insane!"

Dr. Hypatia only shrugged, a bored expression on her face. "Yes, I know, so what?"

She sat the lantern on a nearby table, lined with many different sized knives, and leaned against the table with her arms crossed.

"What are you doing? You're a doctor, you took an oath to help people, not to kidnap them!" Quinn yelled, trying to rationalize with this woman.

Dr. Hypatia cackled, shaking her head. "Oh, I am a doctor, darling, just not the doctor you're thinking of. You see, I met the Lord Commander when we both worked for the Infinity Guard. The Infinity Guard equipped my services for the...less savory parts of justice. I knew how far to push a person before they died, or before they broke, and they used this to get information out of pesky prisoners.

Of course, it was only when I came to work for the Lord Commander that I was able to truly explore the art of torture."

"So this clinic, your working with my family, that was all to find victims?!" Avocato asked, not believing that he let this woman care for Little Cato.

"Rest assured, I do not torture children. I am evil, but I am not a monster." Dr. Hypatia retorts, a look of disgust flashing before her face goes back to a pleased look. "But word does get around, let me tell you, and I've been worried that I'd never get another chance to use my art. Even with your human friend, the Lord Commander wouldn't let me physically torment him!

Oh, but at last, at long last, more pets have come my way!"

Dr. Hypatia smiles, her face in a chesire like grin that Quinn felt scared by. The doctor took note of Quinn's reaction, and says reassuringly, "Don't worry, darlings, I specialize in torture, and dead people aren't very good subjects. Plus, the Lord Commander would pay me handsomely to deliver you alive. I'll make sure to keep this going as long as possible."

_click._

Quinn felt herself jerked off the ground and her arms forced above her head. She shrieked, kicking out angrily as her back was forced against the wall.

"Aww, try not to scream too much darling, it'll scratch your vocal cords." Dr. Hypatia said with false care, taking out a needle with a pink liquid in it. The doctor approached Quinn, and grabbed the bottom of her head tightly. Quinn grunted, as Dr. Hypatia forced her head to the side.

"QUINN!" Avocato cried out, pulling against the rope on his neck.

Quinn felt the liquid enter her bloodstream, and it burnt. She muffled a scream, clenching her teeth so tightly she felt they might crack. _'Oh crap oh crap oh crap is this what she injected Gary with?'_

Finally, Dr. Hypatia pulled out the needle, stepping back.

"What-what did you do to me?!" Quinn yelled, lunging as far as she could at Dr. Hypatia. The doctor merely took a step back.

"Oh, nothing too severe, don't worry. The effects should be made apparent shortly."

* * *

"Little Cato? Come on, man, let's talk." Luna called out through the hallways, followed by KVN. She had searched for the young Ventrexian in his and his father's room already, so she was getting a little worried.

"LUNA, WOULD YOU LIKE MY ASSISTANCE IN FINDING LITTLE CATO?" H.U.E. asked. The teenager shook her head, sigh passing out her lips.

"No, this is something I need to do on my own, H.U.E." Luna found herself in the commissary, where the half finished pillow fort sat. The human sat an orange tail peeking out of the opening, and smiled.

"KVN, stay out here." Luna said to the robot, crawling into the pillow fort. She felt the robot bumping against her backside. "KVN-KVN no. No."

Luna kicks the robot back, and continued crawling into the pillow fort. She saw the young Ventrexian with his legs pulled up to his chest. He was reloading an energy pistol, clearly planning something.

"What do you want?" Little Cato asked, looking up to glare at the teenager. Luna just let out a sigh, pulling herself in a legs-crossed sitting position.

"Little Cato, I know you're scared, but going in guns blazing is a stupid plan, dude!" Luna says, flapping her arms around.

"What do you care? Like you said, you barely know us-you just wanted to stick it to the Lord Commander." Little Cato mumbles, putting his head in his legs.

Luna pauses, a look of panic appeared briefly on her face, before closing her eyes and putting a neutral expression on. "Little Cato, I haven't been entirely honest with you guys."

Little Cato looked up, raising an eyebrow at Luna. "What?"

"The truth is, I'm not just some random time traveler.

I'm actually Gary and Quinn's daughter from an alternate universe."

_"What?" _Little Cato cried out. He was in complete shock from that statement.

"WHAT?!" H.U.E. asks, also in complete shock.

"KVN!" KVN announces, squishing his body next to Little Cato and Luna.

"GET OUT OF HERE KVN!" Little Cato screams, swatting at KVN angrily. He turns his focus back to Luna, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What the hell do you mean by that? You have to be, what, ten years younger than Quinn and Gary?"

"Yeah, the Quinn and Gary from _this _universe. See what I did there?" Luna says, grabbing Little Cato's face and leaning in close. She smiles, trying to reassure him. "I'm from an alternate universe, one where all this is set nearly 20 years in the past. My mom, my Quinn, gave birth to me in that timeline. "'

Little Cato stares into Luna's gelatinous spheres, trying to see if she was genuine, then put a laser pistol under her chin.

"Prove it." Little Cato says, baring his teeth as he says this. Luna swallows a hard lump in her throat, eyes wide in panic.

"Okay, okay. Fair, fair." Luna says rapidly, raising her hands in the air. "Uh, uh check in my back left pocket. Open up my wallet."

Little Cato continues to point the pistol at Luna, but leans forward and searches the pocket. He takes out a brown, beat up wallet. He opens it with one hand, and sees her ID card.

"Luna Goodspeed?!" Little Cato says aloud, skimming over the ID information. He lowers the pistol, body slouching back.

"Yeah, Mom thought it'd be a good way to honor my dad's memory." Luna shrugs, smiling good-naturedly. "To be honest, I would have gone with something like Nova or Alexandria or something elegant."

"Okay, but I need double proof." Little Cato says, beginning to believe Luna's story.

The teenager pulls herself onto her knees, searching her pockets. "Come, where did I-oh yeah, my cape!" Luna takes her cape off, positioning it so Little Cato can see the LG spraypainted on blue on the back.

"Seriously?" Little Cato asks, tilting his head. "Aren't you a little old to be pretending to be a super hero?"

"Hey, super heroes are cool at all ages!" Luna retorts, unbuttoning a small pouch hidden in the cape. With a flourish, she takes out a photo and shows it to the Ventrexian. "Bam! See, proof!"

Little Cato sets the wallet aside and takes the photo with both hands. The photo looked old, creased in the corners and folded many times. The young Ventrexian could still see that it depicted Quinn, perhaps an older, more disheveled looking Quinn, but it was still the human woman Little Cato had grown to know. Quinn was sitting down, smiling pleasantly at the camera, with a small child in her lap. The child gave a big grin to the camera, and wore a blue fancy dress and blonde hair in pigtails.

"That was taken on my-I wanna say fourth birthday." Luna explained, trying to add credibility to herself. "Mom had been growing out her hair a bit, and I thought it made her look like a princess."

"Why are you telling me this?" Little Cato asks, shoving the photo back at the teenager.

"I'm telling you this to show that I do have stakes here too. That I do care." Luna says, scooting a bit closer to Little Cato. "And that I really am trying to take your safety into consideration here when I say we need to wait."

Little Cato stays silent for a few moments, looking down in deep thought. He finally looks up and speaks, "Okay, fine. I trust you."

Luna smiles in relief, ruffling Little Cato's hair playfully. "Atta boy. I knew you'd get it. Now, I'mma go get some snacks from my ship and we can go over a game plan, be back in a few."

The teenager crawls out of the pillow fort, giving the younger boy one more smile before leaving.

"SO, ARE WE GOING TO GO OUT ANYWAY?"

"Yeah, no duh." Little Cato says, putting the electric pistol under his belt. "You gonna help me?"

"HELL YEAH, DAWG."


End file.
